The Woman in the Chair
by shannyfish
Summary: With a serial killer who is taking three days to kill women on the loose, Brennan and Booth race to try to catch him before he goes after another victim.
1. Three Days

Title: The Woman in the Chair

**Title:** The Woman in the Chair  
**Author:** Shannon - shannyfish  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Bones" or its characters, Fox does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** With a serial killer who is taking three days to kill women on the loose, Brennan and Booth race to try to catch him before he goes after another victim.  
**Warning:** Spoilers up through the end of season three, since I'm not really sure if I'll be using anything at the moment. Would take place during season four.

**Chapter 1 – "Three Days"**

**Author's Note:** This is my first "Bones" fanfic, I always appreciate constructive criticism.

………………….

**Monday**

Booth rushed into the warehouse building with his gun drawn. He'd received a tip while he was on his way back to the Jeffersonian and he'd immediately changed his route. Back up had been called, but he couldn't wait. There wasn't time. This was day two and thoughts of what he'd find haunted his mind as he hurried inside the dark warehouse. The main area was empty, just a few wooden boxes scattered and among them some squatters. He didn't pay any attention to them as he slowly edged through the empty space towards where a lone door waited at the other end, it was much darker…like a deep charcoal, and Booth wondered if it foretold the true agony that awaited him behind it.

Two days.

He knew all too well what could happen in those two days alone. Their killer didn't need a whole additional twenty-four hours; he didn't want to think of the damage that he could do in that small amount of time.

A sudden scream that continued to fill the empty space and surround him caught him off guard. Booth forgot to breathe for a moment, but his heart raced at an unimagined pace. The scream was that much of a woman, he was sure of that. His heart was panicking, but he was forcing his mind to stay as clear as possible. He forced himself to start walking with his weapon up and headed in the direction the scream had emanated from. The silence lasted only mere seconds before more screams joined in to create a soundtrack of agony. Booth quickened his pace and tried to keep his focus. It was hard. One thought repeated over in his head.

_Please God, not her…_

It became a mantra…a prayer…a plea…

…………………..

**Friday**

**72 hours earlier…**

Booth had picked up Brennan from the Jeffersonian after getting a call about a skeleton found when firefighters had swept a building after extinguishing a fire in it. He looked over at his partner as he drove, she looked…off. He studied her off and on for about five minutes before she apparently picked up on his spying.

"What?" she asked with irritation lining her voice.

"Nothing," Booth said quickly and turned his eyes solely to the road.

"No, why were you looking at me like that?" Brennan asked curiously.

Booth shrugged, "You just look…different for some reason."

"I'm fine," she said non-convincingly and turned to stare out of her passenger side window.

"Alright," he said a bit quietly and dropped the subject. He wasn't going to push things. If she wanted to tell him, then she would…or he'd try to get it out of Angela later.

It didn't take them long before they pulled up in front of the warehouse that had been set on fire, but it looked like the fire department had responded quite quickly. Only part of the building had been burned, all the rest looked just fine. "This should be fun," Booth mumbled as he parked the company vehicle with the rest of the law enforcement vehicles that were lined up out of the way of the massive crimson fire trucks.

"Do we know if the skeletal remains were found in the burn area?" Brennan questioned as she reached for the door handle.

"No idea," Booth said as he opened his own door and got out. He waited until she was out on the other side before adding, "But we'll find out soon enough."

They made their way through the crime scene tape and up to the firefighters and the police officers who were conversing about their current location. "You the F.B.I.?" one of the firefighters questioned and the others quieted down and all eyes went to Booth and Brennan as they waited for a response.

Booth had his ID and badge out and ready, "I'm Agent Seeley Booth and this is Doctor Temperance Brennan with the Jeffersonian."

"I'll show you where the skeleton is," one of the cops spoke up. "It's pretty bad, though…there's still some…uh tissue left…"

"Doesn't it need to be cleared first?" Brennan questioned.

One of the firefighters spoke up to respond to her query, "No, Ma'am, it wasn't in the burn area. It was on the other end of the warehouse."

The officer led them to the safe non-burned area of the warehouse. As they entered, he started to inform them of how they found things. "It was an anonymous call that called it about the fire. As far as we know, no one else was here. The fire didn't touch the body, so as far as we can tell…this body was burned before the fire started. It's in a completely different area."

Brennan let out a long yawn and covered her mouth trying to hide it.

"You need something more interesting, Bones?" he asked.

"What?" she asked slightly confused.

"You're yawning," he pointed out. "Are we boring you?"

"Oh," Brennan said realizing what he'd meant. "No, I just couldn't sleep…"

He waited until they were shown the remains and the officer left until continuing the conversation. He watched as she started to examine the skeleton in the chair. The cop was right; there was still muscles and bits of flesh attached in various area. "You know what Sweets would say about you not being able to sleep, right?"

"I don't like psychology," she simply stated.

Booth went on just the same, "He'd say you had something on your mind…"

"Like what?"

"I don't know… Your dad? Russ? Your next book?" he prompted.

"No to all of thee above," Brennan said as she continued to move about examining. "I haven't decided if I'll write another one yet."

He stopped and stared at her, he'd had a thought of what else could be on her mind. "Zack?" Booth asked quietly.

"What about Zack?" Brennan asked flatly and without emotion. She didn't look over to Booth; she just kept her concentration on her work. It wouldn't work, though, she knew this. He would see through her façade. They'd worked together long enough that they both knew each other. She just didn't want to discuss it at the moment.

Booth frowned concerned and knew that he could easily bring it up again later. He'd make sure that she was alright once they had time in between bone results later back at the Jeffersonian. "What do you think? Was it burned?" he asked changing the subject for her sake.

"Burned by acid…like the others…" she said and looked up at her partner.

"This is the fifth," Booth said staring at the body. The F.B.I. had recently declared the killer, who had been killing single women over the last three weeks as the Three Day Killer. The F.B.I. wasn't too big on creative names, but the designation that they gave him said it all. It took him exactly three days to torture and then murder each of his victims, and then he took twenty-four hours off in between victims. They weren't sure if it was like vacation time for him or if it was merely his way of stalking his next victim. Either way, the killer had an exact routine with how the three days he spent with his victims went.

_Day One:__ The victim is kidnapped and strapped to a chair. They are then tortured by use of electricity. They are not injured severely, mainly just to jar them, though it leaves behind marks._

_Day Two:__ The victim, still in the chair, is cut in various locations, none of them are deadly in any way._

_Day Three:__ The victim has acid poured over their body. The acid is made from acids and cleaners that can be picked up anywhere. When the body is found, it still contains some tissue, but is mainly skeletal remains._

"We have to find him, Booth," Brennan said firmly as she stared at him from where she was crouching near the body.

"We will…" Booth promised.

She turned her gaze back to their victim. Her name was Delaney Griffith. It wasn't often that she took any sort of leap, but that was the one woman that they put as most likely the Three Day Killer's latest victim. The skeletal remains matched up roughly with what she knew of the woman. They would, of course, match the DNA and dental records to make sure. "It's her…"

"I know."

…………………..

TBC…


	2. Day Three Body Found

Title: The Woman in the Chair

**Title:** The Woman in the Chair  
**Author:** Shannon - shannyfish  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Bones" or its characters, Fox does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** With a serial killer who is taking three days to kill women on the loose, Brennan and Booth race to try to catch him before he goes after another victim.  
**Warning:** Spoilers up through the end of season three, since I'm not really sure if I'll be using anything at the moment. Would take place during season four.

**Chapter 2 – "Day Three – Found Body"**

**Author's Note: **thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far!

………………**..**

**Friday**

With the new victim's remains back at the Jeffersonian, Booth waited around. Cam had removed what tissue she needed and had done her own exam before releasing the body to Brennan. He knew that the body had too much organic material on it for Brennan to completely work with, but they'd already matched up previous breaks and markers. The remains were that of Delaney Griffith. He mirrored Brennan at her examination table. "So, how are we going to do this?" he asked. He knew it was wrong, this was a woman that had been brutally murdered, but he was excited to find out how she planned on removing the remaining tissue from the bones.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Aren't you going to have the bones cleaned?" he questioned.

"No," she responded. "We know its Delaney Griffith. We know exactly how she died. There's no need."

He heard it in her voice, not only her exhaustion, but sadness as well. He frowned, he wanted to help her, but the only way he could do that was if she let him in. She wasn't ready yet, though. When she was, they would talk…and he'd be there for her. "Ah."

"What?" she asked staring at him.

"What?" he mirrored confused at her question.

"Why would I clean the bones? It's not going to help us learn anything further." The cuts weren't made to the bone, but Cam could see that in what tissue was left along with the marks left from the electricity. The acid was self explanatory. They had taken a sample and ran it through the system and like the others…it was comprised of items that could be bought at any store. That simple fact alone was haunting…

"I don't know…it just seems wrong to give her to her family like this," he said looking down at the body. It wasn't quite a body, though…so much of her was missing, but it was still more than a skeleton.

Brennan looked back down at the remains of Delaney Griffith, "No one deserves to have to have their loved one returned like this…" she told him quietly.

…………….

He'd gone off to get Chinese food and had come back to find the lab area squint-less, which was odd, but he had a feeling that Cam had ordered Hodgins and Angela home…Bones, though, would be in her office. He walked straight to her office and found her behind her desk with her head gently laid over her folded arms. She looked so peaceful and he hated to wake her, but he knew that she hadn't eaten during lunch, neither of them had. Even though she needed the sleep, she needed food, too.

Quietly, he walked in and set the box of food on the table and then disappeared. He needed to get a couple of drinks and figured he'd pick up something from the vending machine. Nothing with caffeine, though, they would both need a good night's sleep. It didn't take long and he found that his partner was still fast asleep at her desk. He sighed and thought for a moment as he watched her. His hands went to his hips as he contemplated the situation. He hated the thought of waking her. Hesitantly he walked over to her side and kneeled down beside her chair. Gently, Booth put his hand on her shoulder and spoke softly and soothingly, "Bones, time to wake up for dinner…" He didn't want to scare her or jar her.

"Mmm?" she mumbled incoherently as she blinked and found herself staring directly into her partner's chocolate brown eyes full of concern. "How…how long have you been here?" she asked as she straightened and pushed her hair back away from her face. She hadn't meant to fall asleep.

"Not long," he lied. The food would still be hot even if he'd thought about waking her for a while along with going for drinks.

"Food?"

Booth smiled and nodded before standing up straight, "Chinese."

Brennan couldn't help, but smile. Chinese had become their thing; Booth had shown up in the middle of the night when she was up awake sometimes with it. It always cheered her up. "I love Chinese," she stated cheerily, though still sleepy.

"Me too," Booth said as he held out his hand to help her out of her chair, so that they could eat at the couch and coffee table.

She looked oddly at him for a moment and then accepted his hand and his help up to her feet. Brennan straightened her blouse as she walked towards the couch and coffee table to the waiting meal. The smell of it hit her, and she remembered how hungry she really was. "What did you get?"

"I don't order, they just hand me the boxes," Booth told her with a crooked smile as he took a seat next to her when she finally sat down. He waited until she leaned forward, he was sure intent on peeking. "I did that in the car…"

"What?" she asked innocently as she pulled back and swung around to look at him, his face only inches from hers.

"Peeking."

"I wasn't going to peek…I was going to…open the food containers…"

He chuckled, "Have I ever failed you on Chinese food options?"

"Well, no," she blurted out suddenly and laughed, too.

Booth handed her a set of chop sticks along with a box of the mystery (at least to her) Chinese food and then scooped up himself a box. He smiled as he started to attack the food inside the carton with his chop sticks. They sat there eating the food for some time in silence before Booth finally broke it, "You know…I don't think you should be out alone…"

"What? What do you mean?" she asked confused and then quickly tried to chew the food she had in her mouth.

"I mean, he's out there and he's going to most likely to stalking his newest victim all day tomorrow…"

"Serial killers can only come after me so many times, Booth," she told him and shook her head.

"The Grave Digger, Epps…" Booth started to recite for her benefit. He knew that she could handle herself most of the time, but it was those slivers of time in between that he worried most about. He didn't want to loose her. He knew what thinking like he was going to loose her felt like. It wasn't a good feeling…

"That's only_ two_…out of the how many cases we've been on over the last three years?"

"Don't forget about the one that decided to recreate your last book. That was sort of close to home," Booth reminded.

"Booth, I'll be fine. I'm with you most of the time anyway. I feel safe with you," Brennan admitted and then picked up one of the boxes with chow mien and started to eat it.

"I'm talking about all the other times…"

She stopped eating and left her chop sticks in the show mien and turned to stare at his face. She could see the concern clearly written all over his face. "Booth, I can't hide every time there's a serial killer somewhere near the DC area."

"I'm just asking you to be more careful," Booth amended.

"I will…" she told him sincerely.

He stared into her blue eyes and waited until he was sure that she meant it. Booth knew she would. It didn't stop him from worrying about her, though. "Let me drive you home."

"Booth…"

"C'mon, you fell asleep in your office…" he defended. "I don't want to think about you falling asleep at the wheel. I'll pick you up in the morning."

"And what if I want to be in at six?"

"I'll be there…" he promised.

They stared at each other for a few more minutes before Brennan finally smiled a bit, "Alright…but only tonight. Tomorrow you're going to act less paranoid."

"I'm not promising anything."

"I wish you wouldn't worry so much."

"I worry…just enough about the people I care about," he said as he stared at her. When her eyes came up to meet his, he kept the lock for only a moment before looking away. He busied himself with tidying up the Chinese and packing it up to take with them. "C'mon, let's get you home."

……………………….

TBC…


	3. 24 Hours

Title: The Woman in the Chair

**Title:** The Woman in the Chair  
**Author:** Shannon - shannyfish  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Bones" or its characters, Fox does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** With a serial killer who is taking three days to kill women on the loose, Brennan and Booth race to try to catch him before he goes after another victim.  
**Warning:** Spoilers up through the end of season three, since I'm not really sure if I'll be using anything at the moment. Would take place during season four.

**Chapter 3 – "24 Hours"**

**Author's Note: **none

………………………

**Saturday**

It was a workday even though it was a weekend day, that's how it was when they worked on a case…and sometimes even when it wasn't. It was hard for her to take a day to herself and do something that wasn't her work at the Jeffersonian. The knock at her door was earlier than she'd expected and she wasn't quite ready. She'd told Booth ten, and it was only nine. Sighing, she walked to the door; at least she was already showered and dressed. Brennan wondered what Booth would do if she'd been in the shower and hadn't heard the door.

Opening it, she shook her head, "You're early, Booth. I told you ten," she told him trying to act upset with him.

"I brought breakfast," Booth said cheerily as he presented a bag and a tray with coffees. "C'mon Bones, you can't be mad at me for being a little early. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" he asked looking around to make sure there wasn't anyone else in her apartment.

She gave him a small smile, "No…" Brennan walked over and shut the door, "I was just planning on reading something…"

"Don't let me interrupt," Booth told her. "What are you going to read? Just curious…" he said as he headed towards her table to put the breakfast he'd brought down.

"An article from _The Journal of Forensic Anthropology_…" she told him a bit reluctantly.

His mouth fell open with shock, though he knew that he shouldn't be surprised. "You're going to do more work on a Saturday morning? Don't you have like a _Comso_ magazine?"

"I don't know what that is…" Brennan said staring at Booth like he was crazy. "Sounds like an astronomy magazine…"

"Astronomy?" Booth repeated and then made a mental note to pass along that comment to Angela. She'd get a kick out of it.

"Is it not?" she asked a tad curious, but also slightly irritated with Booth as well.

"No, it's not," Booth told her and motioned for her to approach the table, so that they could start eating breakfast, if not just start with coffee. "It's like a woman's bible."

"I told you I don't believe in God, Booth," Brennan insisted as she walked over and took a seat at her table, she didn't understand why he'd be trying to push religion on her when she'd made it quite clear over the last three years.

Booth rolled his eyes as he plopped into the chair across from her. "I didn't mean bible literally. It's a phrase…"

"Is it an academic journal of some sort?" Brennan continued to question as she started to pull the items out of the bag that Booth had brought along.

"No. It's…it's a woman's magazine…"

"Why is it called _Cosmo_?"

"_Cosmo_ is what girls call it, it's called _Cosmopolitan_. It has all kinds of things women like to know about… Trends…stuff about celebrities…make-up…clothes…"

Brennan unwrapped the wrapper from the breakfast burrito that Booth had bought, but didn't look at her food. Instead, she was staring oddly at her partner. "What would I have any need for that?"

"Entertainment purposes?"

"Booth…"

"Look, I can try…can't I? You know I don't go home and read _F.B.I. Weekly_," he teased seriously.

"I bet it's interesting."

"It doesn't exist, Bones."

"But you just said—"

"I was kidding! I was trying to make a point. People don't go home and do what they do all day."

Brennan frowned in confusion, "I don't read anthropological journals all day…"

"You do anthropological stuff all day…"

"But—"

"You need to take a break every now and then that doesn't involve anthropology or bones or forensics… You need to do something for yourself every now and then," Booth told her gently. "Something relaxing and enjoyable…"

"I find reading _The Journal of Forensic Anthropology_ very enjoyable…and enlightening."

Booth shook his head, "You need to learn to relax."

Brennan ignored him and continued eating her breakfast.

……………………

"So, Booth told me that you thought that _Cosmo_ had something to do with astronomy…" Angela said as she walked into her friend's office.

"That's the only assumption I could get from the name of the magazine," Brennan said in her defense.

"Honey, you need to get out."

"I do."

Angela sighed and watched her friend go through files, "No, I mean get out…and do things that don't have anything to do with bones."

Brennan looked up, "That's what Booth said."

"Sometimes Booth is right."

"Angela," she said slightly irritated, "I don't need a vacation. I'm fine."

"Brenn, _I_ need a vacation, so I'm sure _you_ could use one that doesn't involve you doing volunteer work identifying remains in other countries."

"I find identifying remains highly satisfying. I'm helping families—" Brennan started, but was quickly interrupted.

"A lot of the remains you do identify when _not _working with the F.B.I. are _hundreds_, if not _thousands _of years old… They can wait a little longer."

"The last time we did something you thought was fun was when we went to that club," Brennan said and looked at Angela, "We ended up high."

"By accident," Angela said as she crossed her arms. She was not amused or budging. "You know that was about three years ago… I promise not to take you to a club."

"I'm_ fine_, really."

"I'm just saying you need to get out and have a life." Angela immediately saw a slightly shocked, hurt look on her friend's face, "Don't even give me the line about how you do have a life…"

"I do have one," she said quietly going back to shuffling paperwork around.

"Honey, when was the last time you had sex?" Angela asked as she moved her hands to her hips and waited for a response.

"Whoa! Did I walk in at the wrong time!" Booth exclaimed, his body reacting like he'd been physically hit by something. He went to turn to leave, but was stopped.

"C'mon, Booth. You can't tell me that you find sex talk _that_ disturbing…" Angela said.

Booth noticed that Brennan seemed interested in his response as well, but that was to be expected. He'd found that his partner found anthropological evidence in everyday life and applied it to them whenever possible. "I just…don't think it's something that you openly discuss."

"Why not?" Angela pushed.

"I guess that's just how I was taught. Catholic and all," he tried to explain with a shrug.

"Convince her to get a _real _life," Angela said to Booth, only slightly lowering her voice and then looking over at Brennan with a friendly smile as she exited.

"Gee, thanks," he mumbled, so that only Angela could hear and then he flashed his partner a bright smile. "So, Bones…anything interesting with bones?"

"To which bones are you referring?" she asked, slightly irritated at Angela and Booth ganging up on her.

Booth found a comfy spot on her couch and made himself comfortable. "Delaney Griffith."

"Not really. All the markings match all of the Three Day Killer's other victims' injuries." She didn't look up from the paperwork she was pretending to do.

"You know he's out there, right now… He's probably mapping out exactly who he's going to take tomorrow and how he's going to do it," Booth said frustrated with the case.

A faint knock on her door brought her head up. It wasn't like people to knock when her door was open, but when she saw who it was; she understood the reason for the politeness. "Sweets."

"Do you mind if I come in Doctor Brennan?" Doctor Sweets asked politely with a cheery smile.

"Sure…" she said a bit reluctantly and then found herself looking to Booth briefly before back to Sweets.

Booth sighed slightly and then turned to look at their favorite shrink, "Sweets, what do you want this time?"

"You two skipped our session yesterday," Sweets informed them.

"We've been busy with the case," Booth quickly explained. It was a valid excuse. Bones, after all, had been asleep on her desk at one point and he had driven her home to make sure she'd get there okay. The Three Day Killer was on the loose and they didn't know how long his spree would last.

They needed to find _something_.

_Anything_ would be _something_ to help them move in the right direction. He couldn't help, but think that a new piece of evidence would help them move the case along and could help them find the Three Day Killer. He knew that he'd sleep much better once he either had a bullet in him or he was behind bars.

"Agent Booth? Are you even listening to me?" Sweets asked staring at the F.B.I. agent.

"Huh?"

"That's what I _thought_," Sweets said semi-disgusted.

"You know what I've decided?" he said looking directly to Brennan and tried to ignore Sweets was even in the room.

Brennan raised her eyebrows and then finally asked, "What Booth?" She figured that his great epiphany had come during his ignoring of Sweets' conversation about the case and how they were doing. She'd given him limited responses as she'd been trying to actually work on paperwork with Sweets there. He was harder to fool.

"You know that _thing_?" Booth asked swirling his hands around in the air trying to make his point.

"_Thing_?" Brennan questioned.

Booth tried again, "The _thing_…with the locking us in…"

"You mean the quarantine for biological contamination?" Brennan asked confused.

"If that's what had us stuck here during Christmas, then yes."

"You were stuck in the Jeffersonian during Christmas? When was this?" Sweets asked interested by the conversation and picking up on their efforts at ignoring him and excluding him.

"Three years ago," Brennan answered quickly and then put her attention back to Booth's query. "Yes…that's what it was. Why?"

"Can Cam turn it on?" Booth asked getting to his feet.

"It's an automatic system," Brennan told him and got to her feet hoping that they were going to do something with the case and thus loosing their tagalong.

"But can she turn it on _manually_?" he asked as he reached the door to her office.

She was right behind him, "I guess…maybe…why?"

"Then I can keep an eye on all of you squints," he explained vaguely as he made his way towards Cam's office. He could hear both Bones and Sweets behind him. He didn't listen to what they were saying and just tuned it out. He wasn't going to let them stop him. He needed to do this.

"Booth!" Brennan tried to stop him in order to find out exactly what was going through his mind, but he wouldn't stop.

When Booth finally got into Cam's office and found her there looking quite interested on _their _presence (since he was still being followed). "I need you to turn on the lockdown thing."

"He means the biological contamination quarantine," Brennan corrected him, still wondering what he needed it for exactly in more complex terms.

"Why?" Cam asked looking for anyone to answer her.

"That's exactly what I'd like to know," Brennan added looking to Booth for the answer.

"I figure," Booth said. "Since you're all_ my_ squints—"

"_Your _squints?" Cam and Sweets asked at the same time.

"What?" Booth asked innocently. He looked to Brennan, "Don't they know that they're all my squints?" he asked and then looked back to Sweets, "Well, not you…because you're not a squint…you're more of a high school student."

Sweets glared a bit and found that everyone was talking before he could get his thought out.

"Anyways, I figure that if we're in lockdown, then no one can leave."

"How is that good?" Brennan asked for clarification.

Booth had his hands out at his sides hoping that they'd catch on. It was clear to him. "That way, the killer can't take any one of you tonight."

"Booth," Cam said slightly amused at his thought. "I can take care of myself."

"So can I," Brennan added quickly and crossed her arms.

"And I'm not his type," Sweets added.

Booth sighed and wished that they'd be better damsels in distress and cooperate with him. "Then think of Angela…"

"She's practically married to Hodgins…" Brennan pointed out. "They'd be married if things…had legally worked out at the time last year…"

"She's still _legally_ single," Booth pointed out.

Cam smiled, "You're sweet, Booth. Looking out for us is very noble, but I think you can simply assign some agents to sit out in front of our residences rather than lock us in here tonight and tomorrow."

"Agent Booth is merely being protective because—" Sweets started to explain.

"I don't want to hear you talking for me, Sweets!" Booth snapped. Sweets could say any number of things that could be true, but Booth didn't need Cam or Brennan to hear it. He turned and went off to brood over the fact that his plan was not well received. He'd have to find another clever way to keep them in the lab…or at least together, so that he could keep an eye on them and not worry.

Brennan sighed as she watched her partner leave and then looked over to Cam, "Maybe he has a point…"

"I don't see how putting us in quarantine is going to help anything," Cam said.

"Maybe Booth would feel better if we were just all under protection," Brennan suggested. "I think we might all feel better anyway…"

Cam frowned, "I can take care of myself…"

"That's what I think, but the Gravedigger still managed to abduct me," Brennan said before leaving both Cam and Sweets behind in Cam's office.

Cam still wasn't sure she understood Doctor Brennan, but she did understand the toll it had clearly taken on Hodgins after he and Brennan had been pulled from the earth. She saw Sweets open his mouth to talk, but she quickly stopped him, "Don't. Just let them be right now. This case is hard on everyone…and Booth…he's trying to do what he thinks is right."

……………….

He was right where she expected him to be. Of course, it helped that she had easily spotted him when she had exited Cam's office. He was up above the lab area. Brennan found him right where she'd seen him leaning against the railing looking down at the lab area. "Booth," she said as she walked towards him. He didn't respond to her, but she knew he was listening. "Why don't you just put men out in front of everyone's house?" she asked as she leaned along side him and stared at his face.

"I just…would feel better if everyone was here…"

"I understand that, but we already know that Cam's not going to go for it," Brennan explained.

"She didn't even go through it before."

Brennan smiled, "You were completely out of it that Christmas."

Booth shifted his gaze from the lab and squints to Brennan in order to defend himself, "It's not my fault. It was the drugs."

"Sometimes…you can't protect us all, Booth," she said quietly.

"I know," he replied, just as quiet.

"If it'll make you feel better," she said, trying to make it sound awfully inconvenient. "I'll let you drive me home again."

"I want you to keep your weapon close tonight," Booth instructed.

She tilted her head a bit, "You're okay with me having the gun?" she asked a bit surprised.

"Only until we capture the killer."

……………………….

"Look, I know no one's going to like this," Brennan said knowing it was true. She didn't even like it. "But it's going to make Booth feel better…he just wants to make sure that we're all safe."

"I don't understand why I have to be escorted home, too," Hodgins said.

"Because where you are, Angela is," Booth explained walking up behind Brennan.

"I still say that the F.B.I.'s just wasting their time covering us. Why do you think he'll come after one of us?" Cam asked.

"Howard Epps…and the Gravedigger isn't enough of a reason for you?" Booth asked like Cam was crazy.

"That was mainly after Doctor Brennan," Cam pointed out.

"Okay…true, but still. I would feel better. Humor me."

………………

"Do you need to inspect my residence before you feel okay about leaving me alone?" Brennan asked as she and Booth entered her apartment.

Booth couldn't help, but smile, "It would…probably make me feel better," he conceded.

Brennan pulled her door shut and locked it. "Go ahead then," she encouraged and went about putting her bag away and hanging up her coat. She wanted in the living room for him to finish, not wanting to spook him at all when he was on such high alert. When he returned, she waited patiently for his results.

"It's clean. Keep everything locked, though," Booth instructed a bit disappointed. He holstered his gun and put his hands on his hips. He watched her nod, but he still didn't like leaving her. "Bones, maybe I should stay the night…"

"Booth, I'll be fine."

"I'll sleep on the couch."

"I don't have a television set, remember?"

"I can suffer through one night without entertainment."

"The last time you tried to stay the night and protect me, you got blown up."

"I didn't check the kitchen."

Brennan sighed, "Booth, I doubt someone would rig my refrigerator to explode twice."

Booth opened the refrigerator door and inspected it to make sure that it wouldn't explode after he left. He let out a frustrated sigh and closed it. "It's…clear…"

"You don't sound so happy about that," Brennan noted aloud.

"I just…" he started as he turned to face her, but then decided against finishing his sentence. "How about Chinese?"

"I'm really not that hungry."

"C'mon. You've gotta eat. We ate this morning…but nothing in between… You're going to get sick if you don't eat."

"Booth, I'm not going to get sick if I don't have dinner tonight," she told him. After a minute of silence and study, she spoke up again, "You're afraid to leave me alone."

"No…"

"Then what's the big deal?" she asked seriously.

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes, I'm afraid to leave you alone," Booth corrected and then clarified things for her. "You seem like you're like a magnet for trouble…no offense."

"I thought you said I just piss people off?"

"Same thing."

Brennan smiled, "I'll be fine, Booth. I'll stay inside, I won't answer the door. Everything will remain locked and I will keep my gun close by. Go home."

"You sure I can't stay?" Booth asked.

"Not tonight."

Booth found himself being lead towards the door. "Bones—"

"No, I'll be fine," Brennan argued. She opened the door for him and waited for him to step outside. "I promise, Booth."

"Bones," he started again and found that she was already shutting the door on him. He put his hand out and stopped it for a minute, "Temperance…just…be careful, okay?"

"I promise," she told him quietly.

"Night."

"Night."

……………………

TBC…


	4. Day One

Title: The Woman in the Chair

**Title:** The Woman in the Chair  
**Author:** Shannon - shannyfish  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Bones" or its characters, Fox does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** With a serial killer who is taking three days to kill women on the loose, Brennan and Booth race to try to catch him before he goes after another victim.  
**Warning:** Spoilers up through the end of season three, since I'm not really sure if I'll be using anything at the moment. Would take place during season four.

**Chapter 4 – "Day One"**

**Author's Note: **none

……………………

**Sunday**

Booth would be coming. She was determined to be prepared that morning, though. Brennan had already showered and dressed and was just going through her bag to make sure that she had everything when there was a knock on the door. "Coming," she said aloud enough, so that Booth would be able to hear her as she pulled the fabric over the opening in her bag and then secured it at the front. Hauling it up, she slung it over her shoulder and headed towards the door. There was a more urgent heavier knocking before she got to the door, "I'm coming, Booth!" she shouted as she reached for the doorknob. The irritating ringing of her cell phone caught her and she took the time to pull it out. The caller ID caught her attention and she put it to her ear, "Booth, I'm going to open the door in just a second!" she told him, her voice laced with serious irritation.

((Wait…what do you mean?))

"Aren't you outside of my apartment?" she asked and then took the time and look through the peep hole. She squinted as she tried to make out the figure.

((Stay inside your apartment, Bones. I'm on my way right now.))

She could hear his engine and knew he was already speeding and dodging traffic. "Relax, Booth. It's Russ."

((You sure?))

"He is my brother," she said and opened the door. "Yep, it's Russ."

"Booth?" Russ asked as he stepped into his sister's apartment with his hands stuck in his pockets.

((I'm still on my way.))

"Booth, we're fine," she told him as she pulled the door shut and locked it. "The door's locked. If it'll make you feel better, we'll stay away from the windows."

((Is that sarcasm I hear in your voice, Bones?))

"I'm hanging up now, Booth." And she did and then she turned to her brother, "Sorry, Booth's just being…really protective."

"Someone after you?" Russ questioned.

"Not specifically after me," Brennan told him and it was the truth. "What did you need, Russ? You could have called."

"Can't a brother just stop by to see his sister, Tempe?"

She turned and looked at him to try to figure out if she could tell without pushing him, though she had no problem in doing so. "You don't just stop by to see me, Russ." She waited for him to explain himself, but he didn't seem too excited to tell her right away. Temperance Brennan shook her head and set her bag down, "Russ, Booth's going to be coming through that door in a matter of minutes. He's probably not going to be too keen on standing around waiting for you to talk to me," she told him as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you in trouble?"

"No, I'm not in trouble," Russ told her, slightly offended. Of course, what else did his sister have to go off of? He'd been on parole when they'd reconnected. "I just…I promised that I'd bring this," he said holding out an envelope to his sister. "Of course, it was also an excuse to see you."

"You called and told your parole officer, right?" she asked as she reached out for the offered envelope.

He gave his sister a smile, "Yes, Tempe. I called my P.O. and let him know I was coming to visit my little sister. I don't think he has such a problem with that trip, since you're connected to an F.B.I. agent."

Brennan smiled, "He's my partner, but I understand what you mean."

"You two are always together," Russ commented innocently.

"He's not here n—" she tried to defend, but was interrupted by heavy, hurried, urgent knocking on her door. She rolled her eyes at the irony of the situation. Walking the few steps to her door, she opened it for her partner, "Couldn't you have waited a few more seconds for me to finish my sentence?" she asked him slightly annoyed.

"What?" Booth responded confused as he shut the door and pulled his weapon out, so that he could sweep her apartment.

"What's he doing?" Russ asked.

"Being an F.B.I. agent," she responded as she opened the envelope. Inside was a card that clearly stated it was a birthday card for her. She looked up at Russ confused, "It's not my birthday until next week."

"I know, but Dad said he wouldn't be around and I promised I'd bring it, and I decided I'd do it now…before I forgot. Amy and the girls want to have you over for a birthday dinner next week sometime."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know, Temperance. I don't ask him twenty questions when he asks me a favor," Russ admitted. "I just say 'sure, no problem'." He noticed the ticked off look his sister was giving him, but ignored it, "So, will you come over for dinner next week?"

"Sure."

"Great!" Russ said a bit more enthused than before and leaned forward to kiss his sister's cheek and hug her. He pulled back and looked over to see Booth was still inspecting her apartment and then glanced back to his sister, "You two have fun." Swinging back around to look at Booth, he called, "See you later." As he and his sister walked the short steps to the front door, he smiled, "You two ever think of trying something than being just friends?"

"No."

"Think about it," Russ encouraged.

She noticed the grin on her brother's face and helped him out the door, "Goodbye, Russ."

"See you next week, Tempe."

Once her brother was ushered away, she turned to see Booth looking disappointedly around the room. His weapon was holstered. "I don't understand the need to search my apartment when we're leaving."

"I was just making sure you were safe," Booth defended quietly. "Where'd Russ go?"

"Home."

"Oh."

"He said bye, but you were too busy searching my apartment," she explained.

Booth noticed the card near her purse and picked it up and started to look it over. "It's not your birthday until next week."

"Dad wanted to make sure I got it," she explained as she took the card back. "Are we going to the Jeffersonian?"

"He's not going to be here for your birthday?"

"Apparently not."

"Well, that sucks," Booth muttered and knew they'd have to do something at the Jeffersonian for her birthday.

Brennan shrugged and picked up her bag and tucked the early birthday card securely inside. "It's not a big deal."

"He hasn't been here for you for a birthday in fifteen years…you'd think he'd start," Booth told her as they headed out of the apartment.

"He sent me a card," she defended her father.

"Okay."

……………………..

Booth had hovered around the Medico-Legal lab all morning and then had finally disappeared, before reappearing later. When he arrived back, he found Hodgins squinting at particulates, while Cam was busy in the autopsy room. He looked for Brennan in her office, but didn't find her. His heart immediately started to panic. _Angela_, his mind reminded him. Calmly, he walked back to where Hodgins was working. Surely, he would know where Brennan and Angela were at. "Hodgins, have you seen Bones?"

"They went down for lunch about fifteen minutes ago," Hodgins responded as he pulled himself away from the microscope.

"Where?" he asked, panic seeping into his voice.

"Relax; they're still in the building. You said 'don't leave the building', so Angela took Brennan down to the cafeteria. You have Angela so freaked out that she wouldn't go alone."

"You guys couldn't order up?" Booth asked as he hurried towards the closest way to get down. He didn't hear Hodgins' reply as he hurried downward. His heart pounded against his rib cage as he raced down the stairs. He knew that they probably thought that he was being paranoid and overreacting, but he had their best interests at heart. He knew that they'd already lost Zack, they couldn't loose another squint.

When he entered the cafeteria court, he immediately started to scan like mad. There were tables outside as well, but he had told them to stay inside the Jeffersonian. If one of them were taken from inside, it meant that they could track the killer easier unless the cameras all went out like when the skeleton had been taken. After a minute of his heart feeling like it was going to pop out of his chest from not seeing them, his eyes finally settled on them chatting and looking just fine at a table near one of the doors. Putting his weapon away, he tried to breathe in to calm himself as he took short slow steps towards them.

"Uh oh," Angela murmured mostly to herself when she saw Booth approaching.

"What?" Brennan asked between bites of salad.

"Booth."

"We're doing what we're supposed to be doing," she defended quickly before looking over her shoulder right as Booth arrived to their table and then gave him a small smile. "Hi Booth, are you going to have lunch with us?"

"I think I've lost my appetite," he said before taking a seat next to Brennan. "I thought I was clear," he told them calmly.

"You said not outside of the building without you, Booth. We're still inside the building," Brennan pointed out.

"Just barely!"

"We're still following the rules," Angela insisted. "We had to_ wait_ for _this _table… I was starving, and we even made sure to use the buddy system."

"You should be proud," Brennan insisted as she took another bite of her salad.

Booth shook his head and then rested his forehead in the palms of his hands, "You're going to give me a heart attack."

"You shouldn't work yourself up so much," Brennan commented.

"You sure you don't want anything?" Angela asked feeling a tad bad that Booth was so upset, but kept eating her salad.

"I'm sure," he mumbled.

The klaxons and then the strobe light activated on the fire warning systems, which put the whole cafeteria area into a panic. Brennan felt Angela's hand grab hers in panic and then felt Booth pushing her down and she thought that he was saying something as well, but the klaxons were drowning it out. That was when the sound of a weapon's discharge pierced the air and time seemed to stop. As she was being pushed down, she saw Booth had gotten hit, his temple was bleeding and he didn't seem stable, and when new shots echoed, he pushed her towards the door.

"Run."

…………………..

TBC…


	5. Sixth Victim

Title: The Woman in the Chair

**Title:** The Woman in the Chair  
**Author:** Shannon - shannyfish  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Bones" or its characters, Fox does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** With a serial killer who is taking three days to kill women on the loose, Brennan and Booth race to try to catch him before he goes after another victim.  
**Warning:** Spoilers up through the end of season three, since I'm not really sure if I'll be using anything at the moment. Would take place during season four.

**Chapter 5 – "Sixth Victim"**

**Author's Note: ** So, I'm trying to write this in between my papers for my two summer classes. Two things come with being an English major (of any kind). One: way too many text books they want you to read and absolutely no time to read them in. Two: writing essays. I am so not an essay writer. I'd much rather write stories! On top of it all, I've been having these constant migraine strings… Last week, I was plagued for the WHOLE week by a constant headache/migraine rollercoaster and apparently it's making a reprisal role in my brain…so…yeah…

……………………………..

The ropes dug into the delicate skin of her wrists and ankles as she unconsciously moved around as her mind slowly grasped for consciousness. When her eyes finally opened, she was staring down at her own pants and beyond that she could see a concrete floor. Her whole body hurt and she struggled to think of how she'd gotten there. The last thing…thing last thing she remembered…was Booth…

Booth.

She remembered the blood flowing freely from his wound. Panic rushed through her system as she thought about it. Was he okay? Was he safe? Was he being cared for?

Was he alive?

The thought made her chest tighten and she struggled to push that horrible thought to the back of her mind. _Booth is okay_, she tried to tell herself. What else? Angela was there, they had been having lunch together. She didn't remember much of Angela after the gun shots. She remembered the look of fear in her eyes, but that was all. But she knew that even injured that Booth would protect her. Angela needed his protection more than she did. The fire alarm, she knew, had to have been a diversion and it had worked. It had gotten her outside of the Jeffersonian. But she didn't remember how she'd been captured. She remembered running alongside the building on the grass, but she didn't remember how she'd gotten there.

Pain.

Her body was tingling with it. What had been done to her while she had been unconscious? She knew who had her. They had deemed him the Three Day Killer. This was day one. She knew what that meant, maybe better than anyone else. Electricity was used to aid in the torture of his victims. Had he already started? Had she been conscious? Had she blocked it from her memory?

Tazor.

Was that was he used? She knew that the voltage from a standard civilian model wouldn't have had that effect. It had to be either a different model or it had been modified. She wasn't looking forward to meeting the sadistic man they had dubbed the latest serial killer.

But why couldn't she remember?

She remembered it now. She'd heard her name and had turned, but all she could remember was the tazor, but she couldn't remember more than the hand. Brennan struggled to remember a face. Did she know her attacker? Had she seen him?

Booth and Angela were okay, she reminded herself. It made her feel a bit better. Booth and Angela were two people in the world that she most cared for. Her two very best friends and the two people she trusted the most.

Booth.

She knew that people had told her it was faith, but she liked to think of it just as confidence in her partner. An undying confidence in him. She trusted Booth with her life and knew that he wouldn't let her down or give up hope that she was still alive.

The creak of a door alerted her that there was a door behind her and that she was not alone.

………………………….

"I'm fine," Angela insisted. She'd caught a bullet to her shoulder and though it had been removed without much fuss they'd still insisted on putting her into a sling. "Booth is the one that you should be worrying about, or better yet…find Brennan."

Hodgins wrapped an arm around her, "They won't let us see Booth yet."

"And the F.B.I. isn't letting us really help with the investigation," Cam added quietly.

"They have to let us help them somehow. Brennan's my best friend and I'm not going to just sit on the sidelines and wait to see if they find her or if we find her unidentifiable body in three days," Angela told them. "The F.B.I. can go on their own investigation. I say we start our own."

"Whoa! Ang! You are speaking my language!" Hodgins told her enthused and hugged her carefully, not wanting to squeeze her injured shoulder and attached arm. "I agree! We should track down the bastard who shot at Angela and Booth and who took Brennan."

But Cam didn't respond, she just stood facing them quietly with her arms crossed over her chest. Was she pondering their idea? Was she disapproving of the plan silently? Was she even listening? Did she care the same as they did for Brennan? Did she feel that they were on a revenge streak? Did she remember her roots as a cop? Would she even help them?

"Alright," Cam spoke softly after several minutes of silence and contemplation.

"What?" Hodgins blurted out.

"Alright," Cam repeated. "Let's find the bastard and bring Brennan home."

………………………

"Did they find Bones?" Booth asked quickly when he saw Cam enter. "I told her to run…"

Cam could see that Booth was blaming himself, yet they didn't even know if Brennan was in trouble. "I think they're trying to track her location via her cell phone. They're working on it. You need to concentrate on healing—"

"It's just a scratch," Booth quickly insisted.

"You're lucky to be alive," Cam told him.

"Bones—"

"She can handle herself, Seeley," Cam reminded. "You know that."

His tone turned dark, "I also know what he'll do to her if he has her. We all know how he kills his victims…"

"The F.B.I.'s working on it," she tried to get him to loosen both blame and worry. "They'll find her." She didn't mention that she'd given Hodgins and Angela the green light for them to work on the case as well from the Jeffersonian. Booth would just worry. It wasn't necessary. They'd take care of things from their home base for the time being.

"They only see her as a case file," Booth countered. Bones was_ his_ partner and friend. He knew that he should be the one out there looking for her.

"Maybe that's for the best," she tried. "You'd most likely come back with more gunshot wounds."

"At least she'd be safe—"

"But you might not be."

"Camille—"

"Listen Seeley, I know you two are close, but you have to accept the fact that you can't be the knight in shining armor this time."

"That's not what this is about."

"Do you know Agent Williams and Agent Mashou?" she asked.

"Yes, but—"

"Are they competent agents?"

"Yes, but—"

"Do you think they'll act stupid or reckless?"

"No, but—"

"They're going to find her, Seeley. You've just got to hang in and pray that she's hiding out some place."

"I don't think she is, she would have contacted someone by now," he said truthfully and quite worried.

Cam frowned and took his hand. Long ago, they'd had a romantic relationship, but she knew that this friendship was the best way to go about things. She could see that he cared for Doctor Brennan more than he was probably willing to admit. "Then pray that she's being watched over."

"She doesn't believe."

"Brennan?"

Booth nodded and sucked in a gulp of air to try to calm himself.

"But you do, Seeley," Cam whispered as she squeezed his hand.

………………………..

Max Keenan and Russ Brennan were the last two people Hodgins felt like facing, but he'd promised Angela that he'd call them. They both had insisted on making the trip to D.C. to discuss the situation in person. With the current situation, Cam had suggested that they all remain in the lab and would be escorted by F.B.I. if they needed to leave the lab for any reason. It was what Booth had wanted originally and now because they all felt threatened in some way, they were finally doing it.

Russ Brennan and his father had taken planes and met up at the airport before hurrying to the Jeffersonian to find out the information about Temperance Brennan. They hurried towards the platform. They didn't stop at the key card area and instead pressed past the guard and onto the platform. The alarm went off, but they ignored it and went forward. "Are there any leads?" Russ asked not minding the alarm still blaring.

Hodgins got to his feet leaving Angela where they had been sitting and approached Doctor Brennan's family. He turned his attention to the security guard, "It's okay," he tried to ease the situation and was thankful when the alarm was turned off. He stopped in front of Russ and Max, this was it. He knew he couldn't not tell them the truth. He had a feeling that Max would know if he was lying. He had a mortal fear of Max Keenan killing him and then expertly covering it up if he didn't respond the way he wanted. "We don't know anything more," he said quietly.

Angela's soft voice continued his response, "The F.B.I. couldn't trace her cell phone. They're looking at surrounding traffic cameras now."

"She's been gone for _how_ long and they have _absolutely no_ leads?" Max asked.

"They're trying," Cam said as she slid her card through and stepped up onto the platform behind Russ and Max. "It could have been worse."

"How?" Max demanded.

"He could have shot and killed her right on the spot," Cam said a bit coldly. She wanted to calm them down, but then also explain the cold hard truth and she could tell that Russ was starting to understand. Max was the one they had to worry about.

"How is this better?" Russ asked a bit shakily. He knew that one of the reasons was that his sister was still alive. They'd talked about a serial killer on the loose in the D.C. area, but they hadn't said much other than he kept them for three days. What would be done to his sister?

"Russ—" Max started, but Russ quickly quieted him.

"Let her answer, Dad."

"It gives us at least another thirty-six hours to find her," Cam explained. "The Three Day Killer follows a pattern. Knowing this pattern means that we have a certain amount of time in which to find her."

"It means that we have time to find her," Angela said quietly as she took a step forward to stand next to Hodgins.

"And we _will_ find her," Hodgins added.

"How do you know what happened in those three days?" Max challenged.

"Your daughter told us," Cam informed him. "She's worked on the last five cases."

"And they can't tell you where they were?" Russ asked.

"He changes locations with each victim."

"What does he do? What will he do to my daughter?" Max asked.

"You don't need to know that," Angela said quickly hating to know it herself.

"No," Cam argued. "I think they should know."

"Doctor Saroyan—" Hodgins started to argue.

"We can take it," Max insisted.

"The first day – today for your daughter – he'll use some form of electrical torture. We're not sure with what; Brennan hadn't discerned and identified the tool used. It won't be lethal, but it will be painful. It'll most likely put her nervous system on edge. The second day, he'll start cutting, but not in a way that'll kill her either—"

"He'll torture her is basically what you're saying," Russ said.

"Yes," Cam responded.

Max pressed forward, "What happens on the third day? Why don't we have that time?"

"On the third day," Hodgins spoke up before Cam, keeping his gaze on the floor. "He'll mix a vat of acids that he can acquire from any general store and then use it to begin the process of destroying the remains."

"He'll do this while she's alive," Cam adds. She wasn't surprised by Russ' reaction; he wasn't used to hardened violent criminals. He truly cared for his sister; he had an emotional bond with her. Though Russ was a criminal in his own right, he was more of a Robin Hood type of criminal. Max, on the other hand, looked more and more pissed off. As much as she hated for Doctor Brennan's father to end up on death row again, he could be a helpful resource in locating Doctor Brennan. He knew the ropes of the criminal atmosphere, she had no doubt that he'd do a better job of locating Brennan rather than the F.B.I..

"Where's Booth?" Max finally asked noticing he wasn't present in the group there.

"He's in the hospital," Hodgins spoke up again. "The fire alarm was set off and both Booth and Angela were shot during the panic. Angela was shot in the shoulder, so they released her after extracting the bullet. Booth wasn't as lucky, he was shot in the head."

"Is he going to make it?" Max asked, some concern laced in his voice.

"He's very lucky," Cam said.

"So, no one's out there looking for Tempe?" Russ asked.

Cam understood what they both meant, what they were getting to through their questions. It was what Booth meant as well. The agents in the field didn't have a specialized invested interest in Doctor Brennan. She was another case. "There are two very good agents trying to locate her."

"But they haven't found anything yet."

Hodgins decided it was time to bash the F.B.I.'s lack of including all communications with them. "They don't tell us if they find anything out," Hodgins told them.

Angela added in quickly, "Unless they need us for something and even then they leave things out."

"Where's Booth at?" Max asked.

Cam doubted that he'd kill Booth; he was more likely going there to try to get more information. "I'll give you the information."

……………………………

"Russ asleep?" Cam asked as she joined Hodgins and Angela on the platform.

"Yeah, he's in Brennan's office," Angela informed her.

Cam noticed that the skeletal remains of one of the victims were lain out on the table. Without Brennan present she found it rather odd. "What's going on?"

"Normally," Angela said. "Brennan finds something to break the case from the bones when we come to a wall."

"But we don't know what to look for," Hodgins told her.

With Hodgins and Angela on one side of the table staring down at the remains, she took up a position across from them and crossed her arms as she stared down at the bones as well. "Maybe we can call in one of the grad students."

"The grad students aren't going to help…not fast enough. Going through Limbo and pulling excess bones out of boxes…sure, but this… We need Brennan," Angela insisted, her voice full of emotion and edged with upset and fear.

"No," Hodgins said quietly as he stared at the bones. "We need Zack." He pulled his gaze up to meet both Angela's and Cam's.

……………………………

TBC…


	6. Late Night Reunions

Title: The Woman in the Chair

**Title:** The Woman in the Chair  
**Author:** Shannon - shannyfish  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Bones" or its characters, Fox does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** With a serial killer who is taking three days to kill women on the loose, Brennan and Booth race to try to catch him before he goes after another victim.  
**Warning:** Spoilers up through the end of season three, since I'm not really sure if I'll be using anything at the moment. Would take place during season four.

**Chapter 6 – "Late Night Reunions"**

**Author's Note: ** Sorry, the last chapter I forgot to put the day of the week it is, if I didn't make it clear. Chapter Five took place during the first day of the three days, which would be Sunday. Okay, so much of this chapter I had originally thought that I would (if they still nagged me) be put into the end as deleted scenes, but then I decided I would channel Heather (since she wasn't online when I went to consult her) and I think that Heather would want the scenes kept in the story…

…………………

**Sunday**

Booth was brooding in his hospital room. The sports were on, but he didn't hear or see it. He just stared at the untouched pudding on the hospital bed table set up in front of him. All he could think of was Brennan and what could be happening to her. The agents wouldn't find her. He needed someone to help break him out of the hospital… He'd thought of calling Hodgins, but didn't think he could convince him after the last time to spring him from the hospital. Though, he thought that mentioning that he could wear the bullet-proof vest again and carry a gun might sway him.

He was stuck there.

She was stuck somewhere else…in danger… She was probably waiting for him. She'd known so many times that he'd come in and rescue her, but not this time… He'd failed her. He might have killed her by sitting in that hospital room.

The sound of the door opening and footsteps following it didn't sway his gaze as he continued to stare at the pudding. Nurses and doctors had been coming in checking the machines…making sure that he wasn't dead. He really didn't care unless he was going to get sprung from what he'd decided was a pretty damn good description of hell. He'd prayed to God to be rescued from his hospital room…and also to protect Brennan… But he was still there, staring at the pudding.

A paper bag with a colorful fast food chain logo was dropped in front of the pudding. The smell of grease…followed by the fact that he knew what the grease belonged to…cheeseburger and French fries. His gaze moved from the bag to the bringer of the bag. He was surprised to see Max Keenan there. He didn't look upset, which also surprised him. He was the reason why his daughter was missing and her host was a serial killer who liked to violently torture his victims. Maybe this was his last meal…it was something to look forward to.

"You don't look like a vegetable," Max commented as he pulled up a chair.

"You don't look like you're not…here…" Booth said, but it didn't come out as witty as it sounded in his head.

"What?"

"You're not supposed to be here," Booth explained. "You had Russ bring Bones a birthday card since you wouldn't be here."

"Ah."

"Which _really sucks_…" Booth said, figuring later he could always blame the pain killers they were giving him for his blatant truth at the moment. "You've been gone for like _fifteen years_ and you can't be here for her birthday? You're not allowed to disappear for any major holiday or family birthday for _at least_ fifteen years."

"What if I get killed?" Max asked, amused by Booth.

"Don't."

"Good plan."

"I thought so."

"How's the head?" Max finally asked changing the subject.

"It's just a graze," Booth said flatly as he peeked into the paper bag in front of him. "I don't understand why they don't release me. They said I have to stay in here for three more days—"

"By then," Max said quietly, "Temperance will be dead."

"Your…what do you call your lab geeks?" Max asked.

"The squints?"

"Yeah, the squints," Max repeated. "Your squints are back at the lab, and I think they're trying to figure out how to save Temperance without your F.B.I. agents knowing…but I don't think that's enough… I think you need to be out there."

"I was hoping I could get someone to help me escape this place," Booth said knowing that's exactly what Max was there to do. Neither one of them wanted to see Temperance Brennan harmed.

"I want you to help me find my daughter, Booth," Max told him sincerely.

"I can do that."

"I know you can, but first…eat up," Max insisted pushing the bag towards Booth.

…………………..

"Why do I feel like we're going to get sentenced to a jail term for doing this?" Cam asked as she waited with Angela in the dark vehicle out in front of the mental hospital they'd put Zack into.

"Hodgins called Ms. Julian and she said as long as we take responsibility for Zack and return him to the facility as soon as we have Brennan back that it's fine," Angela tried to assure her. "I mean, Brennan's done so much for the F.B.I., they have to do _something_ constructive in helping to locate her, right?"

"That's not normally how it works."

Angela shrugged, "Well, if we're going to get put in jail…we might as well have a reunion and save Brennan. I think that's a pretty good reason to go to jail."

Cam noticed Hodgins, who was all dressed in black, hurrying towards the vehicle with Zack close. She noticed Zack's hands were wrapped in gauze. It made sense; he'd still be going through physical therapy. They'd need to watch out for that. "Well, we're about to commit a crime—"

"I really don't care at this moment," Angela said snapping a bit and pushed the door open.

Cam did the same, marking sure the passenger door was open for Hodgins as well. "I really don't care either," she said a bit quietly. It was true. All during her career thus far, she'd worked as hard as she could in order to promote herself up through the system. She'd cared at her previous positions, but she hadn't been willing to risk everything then. Now was different. She'd originally taken the position at the Jeffersonian because of the tools. She had the best equipment and that had originally been the only selfish reason. But now…now Camille felt like she was linked to these people. It had been hard enough with Zack…he'd broken everyone's heart, but no one could hate him.

Hodgins helped Zack into the back passenger side of the car and then shut the door before hopping into the front passenger seat himself. He pulled the door shut and pulled the belt from the shoulder.

Angela immediately hugged Zack happily. They'd been assured that they would be able to see him, but the waiting period seemed _so_ long. She appreciated their cheating of the system. "How are you doing? Are they treating you okay?"

"I'm fine," Zack told her hushed, since she was hugging him a bit harder than she needed to.

"We worry about you," Angela told him as she pulled back to stare at him. "We still love you, you know."

"I don't understand your logic," Zack told her.

"It's something that you just have to accept."

Cam was halfway to the Jeffersonian when she spoke up as she turned to Hodgins, "Am I going to have to double security when we get back."

Confused, Hodgins asked, "Why?"

Angela leaned forward, so she was at Hodgins' shoulder in order to fill him in. "Cam thinks that you're going to get us all thrown in jail."

"Why would I do that?" Hodgins asked.

"To save Brennan," Cam clarified.

Hodgins smiled and relaxed a bit in his seat. "You think that I broke Zack out of the hospital?"

"It's a rehabilitation facility for the mentally ill," Zack clarified.

"You think I'd risk us all going to jail?" Hodgins simplified amused.

"_Did you_?" Cam, Angela, and Zack asked in unison.

Hodgins just laughed in response.

"This isn't funny, Jack," Angela told him. "I'm all for saving Brennan and hanging out with Zack, but I_ really_ don't want to go to jail."

"Angie—"

"Money can't buy our freedom," Cam reminded.

"Look, we're _not_ going to go to jail, but even if we were…I could _still_ get us out," Hodgins told him. "So, relax…"

………………………..

Booth wasn't surprised to find the squints hard at work. "What's with all the extra security?" he asked as he approached the platform with Max.

"Just a precaution," Cam assured him with a smile.

"Got broken out?" Hodgins asked seeing Brennan's father with Booth. He stepped aside to reveal Zack, "We did, too."

Booth lit up a bit as he headed to the platform sliding his card through before stepping up onto it. "Zack!" he exclaimed happily. He stopped after a moment of happiness. "Wait, what did you squints do?" he questioned taking his turn to look at each one.

"Ms. Julian okayed it," Angela quickly supplied.

"Zack's here to look at the bones of the previous victims to hopefully give us some clues to how he picks his locations," Cam told him.

"Bones did that," Booth argued.

"A new point of view can't hurt," Zack spoke up.

"No offense, Zack," Booth said a bit harshly. He wouldn't normally have, but it needed to be done today. "Last time you _overlooked_ evidence." He took a step towards him, so that only the table and the remains separated them. His voice grew harsher as he spoke. "This is Bones we're talking about! We have about twenty-four hours to locate her."

"Your distrust is to be expected, Agent Booth. I understand your logic," Zack said calmly. "But—"

"But?" Booth prompted.

"Take it easy on him," Angela said trying to defend Zack. "He's only trying to help."

Booth ignored her and turned his attention back to Zack Addy. "Go on."

"But," Zack continued quietly. He stared down at the table at the remains for a moment before looking back up at Booth and his voice became stronger. "I would_ never_ overlook evidence when Doctor Brennan's life is on the line. No matter what I've done in the past, you are all still my friends and I will do _anything _in my power to help you locate Doctor Brennan."

"Okay," Booth said quietly and calmly.

Cam shook her head as she walked up to stand next to Booth, "Don't worry, Booth. We're going to find her." After a moment of united silence, Cam spoke up again. "You going to look for her in the field?"

"I was thinking about it," he responded quietly. He was looking at the skeletal remains laid out on the table and was having a hard time not imagining Brennan like that.

She turned to look at Max; he was doing well so far. "Russ is asleep in Doctor Brennan's office. Why don't you take Booth and look for your daughter?"

"I don't think Booth will appreciate my methods," Max spoke up.

"I think he can make some exceptions for this case," Cam told him and then turned to Booth. "You know we need the space. You'll just be in the way and drive us all crazy."

"We'll call you if there are any breakthroughs," Hodgins added.

"And we'll take care of Russ and Zack while you're gone," Angela added with a smile.

Booth nodded and headed off the platform with Max. "make sure you feed and water them," Booth teased.

"Hodgins is doing the walking," Cam added before disappearing into her office to look over the results of the tests she'd run on the previous five victims. She hoped there was something useful that she'd missed.

……………….

TBC…


	7. Day Two

Title: The Woman in the Chair

**Title:** The Woman in the Chair  
**Author:** Shannon - shannyfish  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Bones" or its characters, Fox does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** With a serial killer who is taking three days to kill women on the loose, Brennan and Booth race to try to catch him before he goes after another victim.  
**Warning:** Spoilers up through the end of season three, since I'm not really sure if I'll be using anything at the moment. Would take place during season four.

**Chapter 7 – "Day Two"**

**Author's Note: ** This is way more entertaining and such a better use of my time than working on papers for my classes…. Yes.

……………………….

**Monday**

"It looks like all the facilities he uses all have a similar chemical make-up that adheres to the bottom of the chair. The bottom of the legs where it meets the floor was not exposed to the acid and came out clean. This kind of signature means that he most likely uses places that were once used as waste storage facilities. They probably ended up closed for too many code violations," Hodgins explained and kept typing into his computer.

"So, maybe he worked at the places he's using?" Angela theorized.

"It's possible," Hodgins said. "I'm trying to find what other possible locations could be in the surrounding area."

"I was not necessary," Zack said still examining the bones laid out on the table with his eyes.

"Group effort," Hodgins told him.

"We better call Booth," Angela said.

"What'd you find?" Cam asked as she stepped up onto the platform, she'd heard that they'd found something, but she had missed what.

"Chemical residue that can lead us to believe we're looking for an abandoned waste storage facility," Hodgins told her. "And I've got two different locations within five miles of the Jeffersonian. There's another in Maryland."

"Call Booth. Let him know. See if he'll okay us checking out the other location," Cam said.

"I don't see that going over well," Angela commented.

"Tell him I'm armed," Cam added before leaving them to call Booth.

"She's _armed_?"

"Brennan's not here, so someone's got to have a gun."

………………….

Her body tingled as she started to come around. She ached in no place in particular, but it came from everywhere. Her fingers and toes felt like they were burning. Brennan allowed her eyes to open and take in the now familiar surroundings. Her throat screamed at her when she opened her mouth to suck in air. Her lung and throat felt stripped. She'd screamed after one point during the torture, she had thought that that was it…that she was going to die…but somehow she'd survived.

She'd fallen asleep…she couldn't see outside, so she couldn't tell the time of day, but she assumed it was day two. Otherwise, why would she be left alone for so long? He had to sleep; too, it was a natural need for the body…even if they ignored it some time.

_Day Two:__ The victim, still in the chair, is cut in various locations, none of them are deadly in any way._

She wasn't looking forward to that anymore than she'd enjoyed the activities of day one. Where was Booth? Had he been seriously injured? Had he died? She remembered blood oozing from his head, but it couldn't be fatal, right? He'd seemed okay when he'd told her to run…but then, it had been such a flurry of chaos that she'd just done what Booth had asked.

"Should have stayed inside," she muttered to herself.

No one was listening, but she still had a feeling that Booth was alive…and he'd be looking for her.

_Hurry_.

…………………..

"I don't know! I don't know!"

Max had the man pinned up against the wall, his feet dangling in the air. "My daughter's death is something that _no one_ wants to see happen… Do I make myself clear?"

"Uh, Max…" Booth said tapping the older man's shoulder. "Maybe you should let the man breathe, so that he can answer you," he suggested. It'd been like that for four hours straight and no one knew anything, but Max had threatened all their lives. So far, it really wasn't helping…

Max reluctantly let up and let the man pull in breath. "Can you remember anything? Anything at all?"

"No…but I might know a guy who knows a guy—" the man babbled on.

He lowered the man down to his feet and smacked his face lightly, "You let me know. If you don't…I will _find _you…and I will _kill _you…_slowly_."

Booth handed the man his card and then looked at Max. So far, Max hadn't done anything that he had a problem with…but it wasn't getting them anywhere. They didn't know anything new. Brennan was still out there. The ring of his phone alerted him to the incoming call and he briefly looked at the caller ID before putting it to his ear. "Booth."

((Cam said to tell you that we think he's using abandoned waste storage facilities. There are two in the DC area and then more in Maryland.))

"Okay, Angela, then send me the addresses and we'll check them out."

((Actually…))

"What?"

((Cam's on her way to one with Hodgins now… ))

"WHAT?!"

((Yeah…we thought you'd say something like that…))

"Are you squints just completely out of control without Bones?!" Booth questioned.

((Uh, so…I'm sending you the address to the other place…))

"Angela, I need you to call Cam and tell her and Hodgins to get back to the lab _now_."

((I can't do that, Sweetie.))

"Why?! Why can't you do that?!"

((Uh…well…because Cam can take care of herself. You know she has a gun…not as big as Brennan's, but believe me…it'll work.))

"_Angela_—"

((Sweetie, go out and find her and bring her home. Be safe.))

"An—" Booth started to say, but she'd already hung up. He frowned at the phone and then glared at it for a good minute before it beeped at him to announce that he had a new message. Angela had text messaged the location he was to scope out. "Max! We gotta roll! The squints are on the loose! And they're armed!" he yelled as he headed to the SUV.

……………..

It was just getting light. No one, but Russ had slept since Brennan had been taken…and Booth and Angela, but that was because of the sedatives and pain killers. No one was going to sleep until they got Brennan back. The light filtered through boards placed over the windows that now loosely hung in place as Cam and Hodgins stealthily made their way through the previous waste storage facility. It had really become run down, the building itself was falling apart. Cam had her gun out, ready to shoot any bad guy who might jump out and make themselves a good and threatening target.

"I don't think there's anyone here," Cam whispered as they continued to search the building.

Hodgins felt like he should have a gun, too. He made a mental note to discuss that idea with Booth later, though he had a good idea how he thought it would go. "I think you're right. We lucked out…hopefully Booth has Brennan now."

It didn't take them long to finish their sweep of the building and the perimeter of the building immediately after. It was abandoned, though doors had been left unlocked. "Squatters probably come in here…especially when it gets cold…" Cam mused aloud.

"It's sort of creepy out here early in the morning," Hodgins muttered as they headed back for their vehicle.

Cam ignored his comment, but she agreed. "We should call Booth; let him know we didn't find anything."

"And hopefully he has good news."

………………………

The facility had been searched and then searched again. Brennan was no where to be found. Booth wanted to scream, scream to the heavens that God was letting his best friend and partner be tortured by a madman. He hated when he found himself questioning God, but it happened every once in a long while. He'd prayed…he'd searched…and all he knew was that she had been put through electric torture already and if he hadn't already started…Brennan would be faced with being tortured through being cut. He didn't want that for her. He wanted to switch places, to endure the pain for her.

_Please_, he prayed and stared up at the sky briefly.

He heard Max behind him, but he didn't stop until he was back in the SUV. He sat in the driver's seat and just stared ahead trying to focus. He was feeling sick and if he was out doing anything else, he'd blame the head wound. But it wasn't the head wound. The rustle of the door and then the ring of his phone brought his thoughts back to what the squints were up to. He was about to find out.

"Booth."

((It's vacant on our end. Did you have more luck?))

It was Cam. He wanted to tell her how stupid it was for her to go out with only unarmed Hodgins as backup. Later. He'd deal with the squints later. "No."

((The next facility is in Maryland.))

"He could be even farther than that," Booth started to argue. "He knows that we'd start searching once we got any piece of evidence that would lead us anywhere."

((So, does that mean that you're going to call off the search?))

He could hear it in her voice, she was challenging him in order to motivate him and piss him off at the same time. It wasn't that he didn't _want_ to find Brennan…_need_ to…it was that he was exhausted, his head throbbed, and nothing was leading them anywhere. He knew he could be standing in the middle of the ocean on a tiny barren island and he'd be no closer to her than he was at that very moment. "Send me the information."

((Why don't we join up with you, Seeley?))

Her voice was different this time, soft and caring…there was also an edge of worry. "I'm fine, Cam," he said. If she was there, she'd be able to look him over herself. He _was_ fine, he was just exhausted and there was a pesky blood stain forming on the gauze pad that covered his wound…it was small, though he knew Cam would make a big deal of it. He needed to find Brennan. "No, you guys go back to the lab. Make sure the other squints haven't done something that I'll feel the need to yell at you all about later—"

"They can be checking on Russ," Max suggested as he closed the vehicle's door. He'd been listening, but Booth hadn't said much that was helpful.

"Yeah…make sure Russ is okay," Booth added. "Don't let him leave the lab."

((Will do. Take care of yourself.))

"Thanks, bye."

Max could tell by the way Booth relaxed into the seat that he wasn't doing so well. Of course the tell-tale sign of blood seeping from a wound was also a shout for something being wrong. It wasn't his place and it definitely wasn't the time to discuss it. When they found Temperance, then he'd suggest going back to the hospital. "We have another location to check out?"

Booth nodded silently and stared at his phone. "It's in Maryland. The squints are sending me the exact address; it shouldn't take more than thirty minutes or so." And his phone beeped letting him know he'd received the text message. He opened it and thought for a minute, but then scrolled down to see that they'd added in basic directions. _Good job, squints_.

………………………..

"Well, this sucks," Hodgins fumed as he made his way with Cam to the platform where not only Angela and Zack were waiting, but Russ was up and about now as well.

"Nothing?" Russ asked.

Cam shook her head, "Booth and Max are heading for the next location."

"The one in Maryland," Angela filled in.

"We just have to wait now," Cam explained and no one seemed happy about that.

Hodgins noticed Zack at the table with the skeletal remains and frowned, "Zack, we're going to find her."

"There has to be something here to help us," Zack insisted.

"All it's going to tell us is how much Brennan's already had to endure," Angela said feeling sick at the thought.

"I need the other remains," Zack said. He was bent down enough so that he could examine the remains with his eyes, since his hands were too damaged to do the job.

"Need some help?" Angela asked and put on gloves before she lifted up the bone for him.

"I'll go get them," Hodgins said and quickly left the platform to retrieve them. They were running out of time and he knew it.

"What do you see, Zack?" Cam asked this time, she and Russ had gotten closer to the table.

Zack shook his head, "It's nothing that's going to tell us where she is…" he said sadly.

"What is it?"

"I think he's getting more violent. The marks on these bones look much deeper than the ones in the pictures I had seen from the other remains, but without the physical remains I can't be sure." Zack frowned, "It just means Booth needs to hurry."

…………………..

TBC…


	8. The Cutting Edge

Title: The Woman in the Chair

**Title:** The Woman in the Chair  
**Author:** Shannon - shannyfish  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Bones" or its characters, Fox does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** With a serial killer who is taking three days to kill women on the loose, Brennan and Booth race to try to catch him before he goes after another victim.  
**Warning:** Spoilers up through the end of season three, since I'm not really sure if I'll be using anything at the moment. Would take place during season four.

**Chapter 8 – "The Cutting Edge"**

**Author's Note: ** You're enabling someone with a mental problem!

I should really be working on either my short story analysis paper or my research paper…

……………………..

**Monday**

_Relax._

She was trying to convince her body to calm down, to relax. If she relaxed, the harm being done to her body would not be as traumatic. It was a scientific fact, but as hard as she tried to tell herself that that was for the best, her body was still tense. The tray of cutting instruments didn't seem to help. He'd brought them in silently and then had just left them. There were several different cutting tools: a scalpel, a Swiss army knife, a small hunting knife, a medium hunting knife, a kitchen knife, and then a larger knife. None of them seemed clean.

_Breathe._

If she hadn't been bound with handcuffs, she'd try to get one in order to cut her way to freedom, but that wasn't possible at the moment. The most taunting item that he'd brought in on the tray was not the knives, but a small clock that told her that it was Monday, which she could have guessed…but now she could also keep track of the time. She had a feeling that it was to help with the torture…to see how slowly time crawled by… Seven A.M. The countdown until her death.

_Booth is coming. Believe that._

Her body ached and Brennan wasn't sure if she was going to be able to go through with this second day. She knew that her body wasn't only sore because of the previous day, but also being in the chair in the same position for at least twenty-four hours. She desperately needed to stretch her limbs and let her blood flow. Her fingers were numb from the lack of circulation. Her elbows and shoulders ached, like it was possible that those joints were barely hanging in their proper sockets.

_Relax._

Brennan tensed at the sound of the foot falls echoing though the wall. He was coming. He was coming back and this time he wasn't going to bring a tray and then leave again. It was day two, he would start cutting her. She knew not to be afraid. He wouldn't kill her. Not yet. But her whole body wanted to scream for help, even though she knew that that was useless. No one would hear her. That'd been proved when she'd screamed the day before and no one had come to check on why there was screaming. The turn of the knob unconsciously forced a whimper out of her body. It surprised her. She tried to suck in breath, to calm, to force herself into another thought. A happy one.

_Relax._

_Booth is coming._

……………………..

"I wish I could be more helpful," Zack told them.

"Booth sounded pretty…freaked out by the information I passed along," Cam said as they all stood around the skeletal remains on the table.

"I wish I could do something helpful," Russ spoke up.

"Maybe you should go home…be with your girls," Angela suggested.

"We promised Booth to stay inside the Jeffersonian," Hodgins reminded.

Russ nodded, "I think it's best I stay here… I want to know when they find Tempe."

"She's going to be okay, Russ," Angela said softly. "Booth will find her."

"It's practically a scientific fact," Hodgins added.

"It's true," Zack spoke up. "Booth seems to be able to come to the rescue whenever Doctor Brennan is in trouble."

Russ put on a small smile, "Thanks," he said sincerely. He knew they were all trying to help keep him positive, but he also knew it was true. His sister had stayed safe with Booth. He truly cared for her…if not too much. His smile brightened at the thought of his sweeping his sister's apartment the night he'd brought her birthday card.

"What?" Cam asked.

"The other night I came to visit Tempe and Booth ended up coming over and even though he was picking her up, he felt the need to sweep her apartment. It was just comical," Russ shared. "Tempe didn't seem to mind, though."

"He did get blown up along with Doctor Brennan's fridge the last time he was protecting her…" Hodgins said. "It sort of makes sense…in an odd sort of way."

………………………..

She bit down on her lip and struggled not to cry out in pain. She knew it was inevitable, but she didn't want to give him the pleasure of hearing her cries. Brennan watched as blood slowly ran down her leg. He'd cut her pant leg open and had cut an inch straight line along the front of her leg. All the cuts thus far had been small and shallow. It still hurt, especially in especially tender areas like the undersides of her arms.

_Booth._

Eight A.M.

Time was barely ticking by. She watched as he pulled out a larger knife from the tray. He'd so far used just the smaller ones. She felt her chest tightening and realized she was breathing too quickly.

_Relax._

Her body wouldn't relax, though, but that wasn't what got her lungs exercising this time. He had started to unbutton her shirt from the bottom upward. He hadn't sexually assaulted any of his victims as far as they knew. There had only been torture. But then when he stopped and opened her shirt and then traced the tip of the cool blade across her abdomen, she knew there would be no sexual assault involved. Brennan wanted to beg, but knew it wouldn't help. She was tired…she hurt…

The knife dug into her tender skin of her exposed abdomen. It quickly produced a scream as he let it slide deeper than before and then pulled it across an inch. She tried to pull her hands free, but the handcuffs kept her in place. Now, her wrists hurt even more from the pulling and her shoulder joints and elbows ached from the pulling. Her feet only tapped the floor slightly.

"You're okay…"

The voice was oddly soothing, but also wrong. She wasn't okay. She wanted to argue, but she couldn't find her voice. Brennan closed her eyes and tried to think of being somewhere else. Where could she hide? She wanted to hide.

The Jeffersonian.

The Jeffersonian, like at Christmas when they'd been stuck inside. She wanted the safety. She could clearly remember Booth's happiness when he'd been able to leave to spend Christmas with Parker. Parker being given the robot that Zack had made and then gave to Booth for Christmas.

Christmas.

She'd miss the holiday… She'd really only celebrated it once now in sixteen years… Tears fell down her face as she thought about how her father and brother would grieve for her. She'd just reunited with them both and now she was going to die and leave them both behind. Who would look out for them?

Booth.

He'd blame himself. She knew he would. "I'm sorry," she blurted out as a whisper. She pictured him smiling. She could hear him...calling her 'Bones' and his laugh—

Her scream pierced her thoughts and the empty space around her. He'd started to cut into her calf…deeper… He was cutting her deeper… He wouldn't kill her, not yet, she tried to remind herself. It wasn't helping her anxiety, though. Her brain wasn't functioning well with the logic that she knew would hold true. The Three Day Killer had a pattern…he wouldn't deviate from it.

_Booth… Help…_

…………………..

Two hours ticked by, the clock read nine a.m., but it felt more like p.m. to Brennan as her head hung limply against her chest. Tears ran down her face, but she was too tired to scream anymore and instead whimpers and cries escaped her lips. He'd left her for a few minutes, but all she really wanted to do was pass out. She knew it was weak, but she also knew she could escape experiencing the pain that way. Brennan let her eyes slip shut and tried to ignore the pain moving its way up her body. The sound of the door opening forced her eyes open.

He was back.

"You should pray to whatever God you believe in…your time is short."

She hadn't heard his voice before and was shocked to hear any other voice, but her own. It was deep and serious. Menacing almost. Her time was short. If it came to day three, she'd be dead…and it wasn't a quick death. It was slow and torturous. She didn't want to see day three…at least not in that chair. "I don't believe in God," she barely got out.

"Then whatever higher power… I'm not picky. Make your peace with your maker."

"I don't believe."

"Maybe it's time you should."

The cut was unexpected and deep as it lashed into her abdomen and she suddenly wondered as he pulled it out if he'd sliced her rib as well. A sharp cry escaped her lips and she heaved air into her lungs. Warm liquid escaped from the opening and she could feel her head swimming. Her eyes felt heavy and the pain just ebbed away at her. She allowed her eyes to close and her chin to rest against her chest.

Familiar voices and memories kept her company as her body tried to save her from the pain of what was really going on. It was coping and protecting itself…or at least trying to.

.

.

"_Had it occurred to you that God is a lot like the Gravedigger?" Brennan asked Booth as they drove along in his F.B.I. issued vehicle. _

_  
__"__What? __What?" Booth stammered as he tried to grasp what Brennan had just spoken aloud._

_  
"He lays down the rules, no way to question Him or negotiate, then it's almost as though He doesn't care how it works out. Either you do as He says, make some sacrifices and are delivered, or you don't and you end up in Hell," she tried to explain her point._

_  
"You know what I'd appreciate? If you didn't say things like that, because I really don't want to get struck by lightning," Booth told her, still shocked by her comments.  
_

"_You go to church every Sunday?" Brennan questioned innocently._

_  
"Yes, I do."_

_  
"Can I come with you?"_

"_No, you can't."_

"_Why? It might help me to understand," she asked and tried to convince him to take her._

"_I am not gonna help you disrespect God in His own house, okay? If you wanna do some kind of, you know, anthropological study, turn on the religious channel," Booth suggested trying to end the current topic of discussion and Brennan's request._

.

.

Another stab and Brennan couldn't keep the scream inside, her head flipped back against the back of the chair. Her blue eyes were forced wide open. She frantically looked around and then realized that the knife was still in her wound. A quick look at the clock told her it was eleven; two more hours had ticked by. How long had the knife been there? Did her mind just now register it? Was he watching? Was he bored with her? Did he treat every victim like this?

_Booth…_

Her mind swam again even though she tried to force it to remain in the present. The thought of Booth made her mind want to run to memories of him…he'd always protected her…or tried as hard as he could… Always in his own way. He'd come, she reminded herself.

_._

_._

"_Booth will find us," Brennan insisted as she and Hodgins sat together in the buried car.  
_

"_You have a lot of faith in Booth," Hodgins observed._

_  
"No, faith is an irrational belief in something that is logically impossible. Over time I have seen what Booth can do. It's not faith."  
_

"_No offense, and I'm not just saying this because you filleted me with a knife, we are out of air. We don't know if our message got out, much less if anyone understood it, and we are buried underground. What you have is faith, baby," Hodgins told her with a smile and then heard her laugh, "Sorry, the "baby" thing is a reflex..."_

_._

_._

"Booth," Brennan mumbled incoherently, her chin still safely resting against her chest. The pain she could feel…even in the not so conscious state she was in. It seemed to radiate from every pore…every single part of her…inside and out. "Booth…"

.

.

"_No, see, if there was a God, which there isn't–" Brennan said, but was interrupted by Booth and his sharp look.  
_

"_Shhhh," Booth shushed before looking around and then continuing, "Do you see where we are?" he asked her seriously._

_"And if I were someone who believed He had a plan..." Brennan continued._

_  
"Which I do..." Booth filled in for her._

_  
"Then I'd be tempted to think He wanted me to go through something like I went through because it might make me more open to the whole..." Brennan tried to explain to Booth as they continued to sit in church together._

_._

_._

_Tick, tick…_ She could hear the clock now and with every tick of the tiny clock, it felt like her body was pulsating angry beats with it. She couldn't help, but whimper. Everything and everywhere hurt. More tears flowed down her cheeks and coated her face with a new layer of the salty drops.

.

.

_Booth and Brennan were sitting in church together and Brennan looked over at Booth and informed him kindly, "I'm okay with you thanking God for saving me and Hodgins."_

_  
__"__That's not what I thanked Him for. I thanked Him for saving ... all of us. It was all of us, every single one. You take one of us away and you and Hodgins are in that hole forever," Booth told her. He added sincerely and with heart, "And I'm thankful for that."_

"_I knew you wouldn't give up," she told him.  
_

"_I knew you wouldn't give up," Booth told her with a smile._

_._

_._

No one was giving up…not yet. The pain…it could be handled. It was something that if it was bad enough she'd stop feeling. It was sadly good that she could still feel it. Brennan pulled in breath and tried to hold onto the thought of Booth. There were things that she wanted to tell him before the time came for her to die… It's not his fault, she thought to no one in particular, but it was something she'd need to tell him…she knew he'd blame himself. It was how Booth worked.

_Find me._

……………………………….

TBC….

**End Note:** All quotes used in the flashback sequence were from "Aliens in a Spaceship" from season two. I did however try to incorporate them into more of a story-text base than just pure quotes 


	9. Faith

Title: The Woman in the Chair

**Title:** The Woman in the Chair  
**Author:** Shannon - shannyfish  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Bones" or its characters, Fox does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** With a serial killer who is taking three days to kill women on the loose, Brennan and Booth race to try to catch him before he goes after another victim.  
**Warning:** Spoilers up through the end of season three, since I'm not really sure if I'll be using anything at the moment. Would take place during season four.

**Chapter 9 – "Faith"**

**Author's Note: ** I really don't want to write any of my papers…

………………………

**Monday**

"How many more places are there?" Max asked. They'd gone to the warehouse in Maryland, but it had been empty.

Booth sighed, "It depends on what state you mean."

"How far could he have taken her?"

"By now?"

"Reasonably," Max corrected. "He'd keep her in a stationary position."

"When the Gravedigger took Bones and Hodgins he buried them in Virginia."

"There's got to be an easier and faster way to find her," Max said as Booth drove well over the speed limit. The red and blue lights were on, but Booth had left the siren off. The lights seemed like enough for people to keep out of the way.

"Look, the squints have located five other possible locations," Booth explained.

"But?" Max asked knowing that Booth was holding out on him. He had been waiting for Booth to speak up, but that happened yet.

"The squints found a pattern," Booth admitted. "They looked at all the five other sets of remains."

"What'd they find?" Max pressed.

"The Three Day Killer is angry—"

"Most are."

"He's getting more and more violent with each victim," Booth explained.

"What does that mean? You think we have less time?"

"Sweets has been following the cases. He's had training as a profiler. He knows Bones is missing. There's no way he wouldn't share vital information like that with us if he thought her life could be on the line," Booth spoke aloud as he thought it all over again.

"Do you love my daughter?" Max asked, but watched for Booth's reaction as well.

"What?" Booth asked as he shot a quick look over to Max. That wasn't the response he'd thought he'd get from Max.

"It's a simple question."

"No," Booth argued. "It's a complex one. It depends on what kind of love you mean."

"Would you give your life for hers?"

"That's about the deepest form of love there is," Max told him. "We're going to find her."

"I don't know how you can be so confidant."

"It's no confidence. It's knowing my daughter…and knowing you. We'll find her…it's just taking longer than we expected."

…………………..

It had started to not hurt as much. That was a bad sign, she thought to herself as she struggled to keep her eyes open. A speck on the wall was her concentration point, but she also found herself thinking about her friends and family. They'd really become_ her_ family, an extended unique bunch of people. She probably knew more about everyone and cared far more than she had three years or so ago when she'd first started working with Booth outside of the lab.

She was going to die; her body's lack of feeling pain was the main sign of that. Her death would affect those she loved, but she also hoped that her body would assist them in finding the Three Day Killer, so that a seventh victim might be spared the pain she had gone through. Brennan forced her eyes to the clock. Six p.m. She'd been unconscious for some time. She didn't want to be there anymore. She wanted Booth.

His arms around her…the thought brought her back to the memory of another time she thought she was going to die. He'd risked his life after being blown up along with her fridge to save her. His presence and arms had brought an immense comfort to her.

Booth…

Brennan let her concentration go back to Booth and when they were most relaxed and happy…the diner. She smiled at the thought.

_Booth drank coffee and ate pie…like always. She suddenly felt safe and comforted. It was a safe place…for them both, but then his voice and his actions shocked her, but then brought a smile to her face._

_Keep on tryin'._

"_I've been thinkin' 'bout," Booth sang with a smile. "All the times you told me. You're so full of doubt. You just can't let it be. But I know if you keep comin' back for more then I'll keep on tryin'. Keep on tryin'."_

………………………

"It's getting late," Russ said as he paced the lab platform area.

"They're going to find her," Cam told him for about the fiftieth time.

"How can you say that?!" Russ shouted and stopped to stare at her and thrust his arms out. "He's going to _kill_ her! You said that he's getting worse! Temperance could already be dead! They might not find her in time! He may not be taking three days anymore!"

"You're jumping to conclusions," Zack spoke up. "There is no evidence to suggest that he will kill her before the third day. All of his previous victims show that he took special care to keep them all alive until the third day."

"Zack's right," Hodgins spoke up. "Doctor Brennan's going to be fine. She doesn't exactly die easily. I was the one stuck in the car buried alive with her. She's going to survive this. Booth and Max will find her in time."

"How can you be so sure?" Russ challenged.

"She's got faith…in Booth, but she'll hold on until he gets there."

"She's not the one in charge. The killer is."

Cam smiled a tiny smile, "You'd be surprised at how your sister sees a chain of command. She pretty much squeezes herself in where she thinks she belongs."

"Too many people need her," Angela whispered quietly. She'd been standing back with her arms crossed over her chest. She didn't know how she'd go on at the Jeffersonian without her best friend. Yes, Hodgins would be there, but would that be enough? Or if they didn't get Brennan back, would she cry every time she passed her friend's office or saw a set of remains that none of them (besides Zack) would be able to make them speak?

…………………………..

Booth wanted to punch something. Brennan hadn't been at any of the warehouses. He'd had locals start checking them when the one he and Max had last checked was empty. He wanted to scream and complain of the unfairness of the situation. Why couldn't someone help them find her?! Was she really committed to die? He didn't believe that. He didn't believe that God would be so unfair to him. He understood why he couldn't have Rebecca and Parker in his life as much as he would like, but Brennan was his one constant…why take that away from him?

_Let me take her place!_ He desperately wanted to shout towards the heavens. _ Let me die instead of her!_ He knew that if he died, that Parker would be taken care of. Rebecca would take care of him…even Rebecca's current serious boyfriend would assist in that. The F.B.I. and the Army would make sure that he was buried how he should be and then they would also make sure that his son was taken care of. He'd even put something away, a small college fund for Parker.

He wasn't sure how Brennan would take it…again. The F.B.I. had faked his death not too long ago and though she said she'd been fine. She'd compartmentalized and moved on, it hadn't seemed like she really had when she'd found out he'd been alive. It had hurt her, she'd felt betrayed. She'd eventually be able to move on, though, he knew. The others would make sure that she was taken care of and watched over. The squints would band together.

"What now?" Max asked walking up silently behind Booth.

"We go back to the Jeffersonian. He couldn't have taken her farther… The squints…" he started, but he knew that their testing hadn't been wrong. "He must have changed his tactics. He knew we would find out the locations he'd been using, so he hid her somewhere else," he said, his tone defeated and angry.

"We can't give up…"

Booth looked over at him; tears had made their way into his eyes without his permission, "What else is there to do, Max? We don't know where she is… We have to wait now… Hope that someone somewhere gives us another clue."

………………………..

Booth rushed into the warehouse building with his gun drawn. He'd received a tip while he was on his way back to the Jeffersonian and he'd immediately changed his route. Back up had been called, but he couldn't wait. There wasn't time. This was day two and thoughts of what he'd find haunted his mind as he hurried inside the dark warehouse. The main area was empty, just a few wooden boxes scattered and among them some squatters. He didn't pay any attention to them as he slowly edged through the empty space towards where a lone door waited at the other end, it was much darker…like a deep charcoal, and Booth wondered if it foretold the true agony that awaited him behind it.

Two days.

He knew all too well what could happen in those two days alone. Their killer didn't need a whole additional twenty-four hours; he didn't want to think of the damage that he could do in that small amount of time.

A sudden scream that continued to fill the empty space and surround him caught him off guard. Booth forgot to breathe for a moment, but his heart raced at an unimagined pace. The scream was that much of a woman, he was sure of that. His heart was panicking, but he was forcing his mind to stay as clear as possible. He forced himself to start walking with his weapon up and headed in the direction the scream had emanated from. The silence lasted only mere seconds before more screams joined in to create a soundtrack of agony. Booth quickened his pace and tried to keep his focus. It was hard. One thought repeated over in his head.

_Please God, not her…_

It became a mantra…a prayer…a plea…

He didn't stop or listen to Max. He didn't want to do anything, but to pull Brennan to his chest and wrap his arms around her. To know that she was okay… To know that she was safe with him. He neared where the screams were emanating from and had to concentrate to pull his gaze from the door to Max and to try to silently come up with a plan of action.

………………….

Brennan had stopped trying to keep quiet…it all hurt again as he cut deeper. It was late, she thought, trying to distract herself. "Booth," she mumbled through her cries. She didn't want to be in the pain anymore. It would be dark outside, she thought again. He stopped; she suddenly realized and looked up to see that he was looking at. He was looking in the direction of the door. "Booth," she mumbled again.

"They're going to be too late for you," he said as he placed the knife at her wrist and started to cut into her tender skin there, immediately releasing warm blood down her skin.

The rest was a blur and far too loud for Brennan to comprehend. There was clattering and shouting and gunshots and other noises she didn't recognize. And the blood still flowed…

Red red blood…down her palm and down her fingertips.

"Bones!"

_Booth!_

Her voice wouldn't come to her throat as she wanted and her eyes felt heavy, but she felt his hands over her wound, trying to stop it. Holding it tight. A smile pulled at her lips. He was there with her. That was all that mattered.

"Hold on," he whispered and started to shed his jacket trying to keep one hand covering her wound at all times. His shirt came off next and he wrapped it around the wound holding it tightly in place. "Max!" he shouted. He didn't know what Brennan's father was doing, but he was sure that if he had the guy, whatever he'd done thus far he deserved.

"Oh God…" Max muttered.

"Unlock the handcuffs. There should be a key in one of my pockets," he said nodding towards his forgotten jacket. His hand held the pressure and with his other he fished for his phone. He knew it should be in his jacket…it was close enough he could try to grab it. "Hold on, Bones," he repeated. He noticed that her eyes widened a bit at his words.

"Booth…" Brennan whispered.

"We're here," Booth told her. "I'm going to call Cam and get you to a hospital. You're going to be fine."

"Hurts..."

Tears rolled down his face, he could see it in her eyes how much she hurt. There was pain deep in her sapphire eyes. "I know," he whispered. He wanted to touch her face, to hold her, but all of that he feared would cause her too much pain. His phone was thrust into his hand and he found it already open for him. He pressed the speed dial button for Cam, he held the phone to his ear and counted the rings.

((Booth! Did you find her?))

Cam's voice was frantic, and he knew that the squints were waiting for their answer. Russ was there waiting for his answer as well. "Am I on speaker?"

((No…why?))

"I just don't want to scare anyone," he said speaking quietly.

((Is Doctor Brennan okay?))

"How can I stop the bleeding? He's gashed her wrist pretty good, I'm putting pressure on it…" Booth told her frantically even though he was trying his best to stay calm.

((She probably needs stitches. I'll have Hodgins call you an ambulance. Look, try to find some glue…like super glue. You'll need to try to use that to close up the wound, so she won't loose anymore blood.))

"We need glue…" Booth tried to communicate to Max. "Super glue."

"I'll check the truck."

"Check everywhere," Booth instructed.

((Listen to me; you need to keep her conscious. Get her to focus on you and keep pressure on it until help gets there. If you can, hold the wound closed and glue it in place.))

"Kay…"

((Seeley, she's going to be okay.))

"I'll call you—"

((We'll be at the hospital waiting for you to arrive. See you soon.))

"Bye," he said and then just let his phone drop to the ground. "Bones, I need you to keep your eyes open, okay?" he tried. The blood had soaked through his white button-up shirt he'd wrapped around her wrist and he couldn't tell if it was still bleeding as much as it had been. "Why don't we talk about something? Why don't you tell me stuff about bones…" At first it was softer than a whisper, but the more he focused, the more he could make out the words.

"I've been thinkin'," Brennan whispered. She couldn't make it sing-song like she wanted.

"'bout all the times you held me," Booth finished with a smile as he reached out to barely brush her bruised cheek.

"I never heard," she got out and then it took her a minute after choking on air to finish, "You shout." He sang to her, just like in the diner. She closed her eyes just for a moment thinking about it and let a smile pull at her chapped lips.

"Open your eyes," Booth prompted quietly and watched as they opened again. He continued the song, "The flow of energy was so fine, now I think I'll lay it on the line."

"And keep on tryin'," she whispered weakly.

"To get home to you," Booth finished.

"To get…" Brennan tried to repeat. "Home…" She whimpered helplessly. She'd been un-cuffed, but she could move her arms. They were still hanging limply behind her back, but she stared down at Booth. "Hurts…"

"We're going to get you help…" Booth insisted gently.

"To you," she finished and slumped towards him, her head falling to his shoulder. She unwillingly let out a cry of pain as he body shifted. She just wanted to be close to him. To feel his touch. Tears quickly stained the shoulder of his white undershirt. "Booth…"

"I've got you, Temperance," he whispered as he hesitantly placed a hand gently across her back. He didn't know where hurt and where didn't. He didn't want to risk it. He was already out of control…his emotions were raging. He wished that Max had killed the man, but he knew he wouldn't find out until the EMTs arrived on scene. "Hang on…" he whispered again.

……………………

TBC…


	10. Waiting

Title: The Woman in the Chair

**Title:** The Woman in the Chair  
**Author:** Shannon - shannyfish  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Bones" or its characters, Fox does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** With a serial killer who is taking three days to kill women on the loose, Brennan and Booth race to try to catch him before he goes after another victim.  
**Warning:** Spoilers up through the end of season three, since I'm not really sure if I'll be using anything at the moment. Would take place during season four.

**Chapter 10 – "Waiting"**

**Author's Note: ** summer session is almost over!

……………………

**Monday**

It was late. But there was no information. No answers. There was silence, but there was noise everywhere. None of it mattered. None of the noise was saying what he needed to know. No words talked of Doctor Temperance Brennan's current condition. All the nurses had said was that she was in surgery. A hand fell on his shoulder, but he didn't move his face from his hands. It didn't matter who it was. It wasn't Brennan.

"She's going to be okay, Seeley," Cam said confidently.

He knew that all of the squints were there along with Russ and Max. He'd been there with Max. They'd both seen the blood…they'd both been there with her. "There was a lot of blood…" he whispered and found that his voice broke without his permission.

Her arm snaked around him trying to bring him comfort. "I talked to the doctor… She's stable… The reason they're taking so long is because of all the cuts…they're taking extra time, so that there's minimal scaring. Plus, they started a bit slowly after first assessing her to make sure that the electric torture she went through didn't damage anything."

"Why didn't the doctor come out here?" Booth asked as he pulled his head up. Tears streaming down his cheeks.

Cam gave him a gentle smile, "He's still in there. I managed to sneak myself into the operating room. I had to put on a gown and scrub up and everything… Part of the good things that come from being a doctor."

"They're sure she's stable?" Booth questioned.

She patted his far shoulder, "She's going to be fine. Right now, we just all have to wait it out."

"Brennan wouldn't want you to be so upset," Angela spoke up. "It's how she is… I had to make myself calm down in the car…I was hoping we'd have been allowed to see her when we got here."

"She was making me cry," Hodgins added. "We all care about her, but we have to remember that she's going to be fine. She's going to live."

"Do they know how much longer?" Russ asked happy with the news of his sister's stability.

"It's still going to be a few hours before they put her into a room and then even then they're not going to let us see her until tomorrow morning," Cam explained.

"I'm not going anywhere," Angela said quickly.

"I didn't think anyone was," Cam said with a smile. "How about I make a coffee run?"

"Might as well make it a coffee and dinner run," Hodgins added. "I'll come, too."

"Do you want anything in particular, Booth?" Cam asked as they got up to leave.

"Just do me a favor… Try and keep Sweets away," Booth requested. He didn't feel like being watched. He didn't want to hear the psych-babble. He knew what he felt, even what he felt that he didn't speak aloud. He was afraid that if Sweets was there, he might loose it. He already felt like he was out of control, he didn't need anyone else to add to that feeling.

"I think we can manage that," Cam said kindly. She understood Booth and she understood his need not to be bugged when he was already so upset. Booth wasn't a person who would cry in front of others… She'd do what she could to keep him from having to deal with something unnecessary if it was in her power. She was the one who wasn't as emotionally involved. It wasn't because she didn't care about Doctor Brennan's well being; she just hadn't really bonded with the woman. She still honestly didn't know if Doctor Brennan thought that she'd taken over or not. She had a feeling, though, that it would all be a mystery to her. She was okay with that, but she considered all of the squints and Booth friends and she cared about them. She'd watch over all of them and make sure she did what she could to make things easier for them.

…………………………

**Tuesday**

"She's being difficult," the doctor announced.

"Difficult how?" Angela questioned.

"She let us examine her to a point and now she's not letting us do anything else until she gets to see all of you," the doctor told them as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"She must be feeling better," Russ said with a smile. "Tempe was always stubborn." He could tell that the doctor wasn't happy, but that just meant that his sister was acting like her normal self.

"Can we see her then?" Max asked after a moment of silence. They'd all camped out in their own section of the lobby the whole night after Hodgins and Cam had brought back coffee and fast food for them all. Most of them had taken turns sleeping for a couple hours at a time. He hadn't slept, but he'd been happy when Booth had finally fallen asleep. He'd held on, not wanting to sleep until he saw her, and Max had no heart in waking him. But now, it would be necessary. Booth had gotten a good hour in at the very least.

"If it's the only way to get her to cooperate, it seems I have no choice," the doctor said. "I'll show you the way."

"We'd appreciate that," Max spoke up and nudged Booth.

"What?" Booth muttered and sat straight up in his chair. "We get to see Bones?" he asked noticing everyone, but Max was standing up.

"Maybe you shouldn't all go in together," the doctor suggested. "I'm sure you don't want to overcrowd her…"

"No, of course not," Max said. "Russ, why don't we wait here with Booth and we'll go in in a few minutes…"

"You should go in first," Cam insisted.

"We've waited this long," Max told her. "We can wait five more minutes. You three go in and then we'll go in…"

Cam nodded and she, Hodgins, and Angela followed the doctor.

"Dad—" Russ started to argue as soon as the others were out of hearing range.

Max patted his son's shoulder, "We'll get our chance…and we won't have to rush it."

Booth sighed and slouched in the uncomfortable plastic chair. "At least she's awake," Booth mumbled sleepily as he ran his hand heavily down his face. He still couldn't believe that he'd fallen asleep. He had wanted to see Brennan before he slept, but he had a feeling that having no sleep for the last two days besides the drug induced kind was weighing a heavy toll on him.

"And she's being stubborn," Russ told him; since he knew Booth had been asleep at the time the doctor had been there to tell them everything.

"So, she's feeling pretty good," Booth concluded.

"Pretty much," Russ agreed.

"Probably the pain killers," Max added.

………………..

It wasn't more than ten minutes before Hodgins, Angela, and Cam gave up Doctor Brennan's hospital room for Max, Russ, and Booth to occupy. Max thanked them all for assisting in finding his daughter and for being such strong supports in her life. Booth had just watched it all like it was an episode of some drama on television. Nothing felt quite real. His hands were thrust in the pockets of his slacks. He was a bit cold, but he was dealing with it. He was still only in his undershirt, which was covered in Brennan's dried blood. He followed after Russ and Max towards the hospital room with his head down. He counted floor tiles, but was pulled to a stop right before he got to the door. "Wha—" he barely got out as his head shot up.

"This might go over better," Cam said offering teal colored scrubs. "They don't have a problem with you having it," she added.

"I only need the top," Booth said.

"Trust me," Cam told him. "You'll be more comfortable…plus, they'll allow someone to stay with her… They're not going to put someone else in the room with her unless there's some mass accident."

"Thanks Cam."

"For what?"

"Working your magic," Booth told her with a small smile as he accepted the scrubs.

Cam just smiled before she turned and left.

He knew where the closest bathroom was and decided that was the best option. He knew that her hospital room would have a bathroom, but he didn't want her to see him like that. Booth didn't want to scare her. He could feel the blood had matted his shirt against his chest and he was sure it had soaked through his pants in places. He'd clean up as best he could until he could get home and get a real shower.

Booth took a good long ten minutes to clean as much blood off of him as possible and to change into the teal scrubs. He'd crumpled his clothes up and headed for Brennan's room. He stopped at the nurses' station and kindly asked for a plastic bag, they gave him a patient property bag, which he was grateful for. It would keep his things together and he'd be able to transport them easily. He made a beeline for Brennan's room and found that Max and Russ were there along with the doctor and a nurse. He hung back and found a place to stow his bag of bloody clothes for the time being.

"Booth."

The voice was familiar and it had a pull, but he forced himself to stay in place. The hoarseness of her voice made it sound foreign, but he knew it was her. "I'm here…" he told her. He watched her hand search for him. "Let the doctor look you over, Bones."

"Booth."

"You might as well come and hold her hand," the doctor spoke up. "It might keep her still, so that I can finish examining her."

Booth took the invitation and noticed that neither Russ nor Max had a problem with it. He only hoped that they'd had their time was Brennan before he'd returned. He found a chair at her bedside waiting for him and took a seat. He let out a low moan. His body hurt all over from not sleeping, from sleeping in the lobby, and his head still hurt from his head injury. Booth gently took his hand in his. He immediately noticed that the IV was not placed there, but up near her shoulder. He'd been in a hospital enough to know they'd put in a central line, he could only guess it was because of all of her injuries. "Hey," he whispered as calmly and soothingly as he could as he ran his thumb softly over the top of her hand. He could tell that it was the wrist that had been cut open because of how expertly wrapped it was.

"Hi," she whispered.

Her eyes opened and closed and she stirred a bit as the doctor tried to examine her injuries. He tried to keep an eye on where he was paying most attention to. He'd seen the large gauze patches taped down in several places on her abdomen and desperately wanted to know how badly he'd hurt her… "You're safe now," Booth tried to convince her. She was tired… Maybe it was the pain medication? Maybe she was in pain? He doubted the doctors would let her suffer, especially after everything she'd been through.

"I know," Brennan choked out.

"How about some water," the nurse suggested and went to retrieve a pink plastic hospital pitcher with a matching cup. She filled the cup up with a bit of water before holding it out.

"No."

Booth reached and took the cup from the nurse. He watched as the nurse used the bed controls to adjust the bed, so that Brennan's head and back were elevated a bit more. He held it to her lips, "Come on, Bones. You can be difficult later…you need to eat and drink now… It'll make your throat feel better." He had a feeling that if her voice sounded like that, her throat felt like sandpaper. He tilted the cup just a bit, so that the water would trickle into her parched mouth. He waited and let her drink some before taking the cup away.

"You need sleep," she told him, her throat feeling better and her voice sounding a bit better as well.

"I slept," Booth countered.

"At home," Brennan corrected. "In your bed."

Russ chuckled, "Trying to kick us out already, Tempe?"

"Not like any of you listen," she said letting her eyes slide shut.

"We'll be back in a few hours to check the bandages again," the doctor said. "Everything looks like it's coming along just fine," he said before exiting with the nurse.

"You should sleep," Max told his daughter.

"You all need sleep, too," Brennan said with her eyes still shut.

Booth moved his hand from Brennan's hand and let it wander up to her face and gently stroked her cheek. "We will…but you need to get better."

"I'll heal."

"Well, we know your personality hasn't been affected," Booth teased.

"We're going to leave," Max said gesturing to Russ as well. "The doctor said that you get to stay and keep Temperance company," Max brought up, looking to Booth to make sure that that's what was really going on.

"Cam told me," Booth confirmed.

"Call us if anything changes," Max said and smiled when Booth nodded.

"I am in the room," Brennan spoke up. "The doctor said I'm going to recover."

Russ sighed and walked over to the other side of his sister's bed. He kissed her forehead, "We just love you, Tempe. Call us if you need anything. Love you."

"Love you," Brennan mumbled.

He moved out of the way and headed to the door, so that their father could say goodbye as well. The room was large for a hospital room, but not huge with the two beds in the space and all the equipment keeping tabs on his sister's condition.

Max kissed his daughter's cheek, "Love you, Sweetheart," he whispered and then kissed her forehead as well. He smiled when she opened her blue eyes. He looked to Booth, "Get some sleep."

"I will…I even have a bed," Booth promised as he gestured to the bed behind him.

"I told you," Max reminded with a bright smile as he joined Russ at the door.

"What?" Booth asked confused.

"We'd find her… I knew you wouldn't give up," Max said, to Booth and his daughter. He smiled at them before leading Russ out the door. They needed time alone, he knew that. They needed to talk, and Booth just needed to be with his daughter. He loved her…in his own 'special' way. That was all he really needed to know. Life would take care of the rest.

"I knew you wouldn't give up," Booth repeated to Brennan as he took her hand again and then tried to get her to drink more water. He waited until she was done with the second long sip before setting it on a bedside nearby.

"I knew you wouldn't give up," Brennan whispered and covered his hand with her other hand. She'd let her eyes close again, but she knew that he didn't need her looking at him for him to know that she really meant it.

"Sleep, Temperance," Booth whispered.

…………………..

TBC…


	11. Day Three Healing

Title: The Woman in the Chair

**Title:** The Woman in the Chair  
**Author:** Shannon - shannyfish  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Bones" or its characters, Fox does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** With a serial killer who is taking three days to kill women on the loose, Brennan and Booth race to try to catch him before he goes after another victim.  
**Warning:** Spoilers up through the end of season three, since I'm not really sure if I'll be using anything at the moment. Would take place during season four.

**Chapter 11 – "Day Three – Healing"**

**Author's Note: ** I think the next story I'll do for the Bones fandom will be an epic/saga version…because I really wanted to do that with this story, but with the title…it must come to an end.

…………………..

**Tuesday**

Booth sat in his chair and stared down at the entwined hands. She'd finally allowed for sleep to overtake her and he was glad for it. It meant that she could heal and most likely that she wasn't in as much pain if she could sleep soundly as she did. _Day three_, Booth suddenly realized. They'd broken the three day cycle.

"Booth."

His name was nothing but a mumble, but he recognized it instantly and gently squeezed her hand to assure her that he was still there. "I'm here, Bones." He wasn't leaving, not until she could leave or at least not until someone else could temporarily stay with her. He waited silently. She'd mumbled his name in her sleep before. Her eyes remained closed as before and he slumped a bit in the hard plastic chair.

His body still demanded a decent amount of sleep, but whenever he thought about crawling into the other bed, she'd stir and he wouldn't have the heart to move. _Sleep is highly overrated_. He sighed and stared up at the generic ceiling tiles. He was afraid that if he turned on the television that she'd wake. Sports and mindless entertainment could wait until later. He needed something to keep himself awake, not even the beeping of Brennan's hospital monitors helped. They sounded more like a soft lullaby.

And so he started to count.

Ceiling tiles could pass the time away by counting specks in each one. It was pathetic, but it was something to do in the meantime. He made a mental note to have someone bring him a change of clothes and some quiet entertainment later.

_A Gameboy_.

That's exactly what he needed. Maybe he could get Parker to let him borrow it. It was for a good cause…

_Parker_.

It was his weekend, or it had been. Normally, he'd been able to drop everything to spend time with his son before… Protecting his family had become more complicated. Before Parker and even Rebecca had been his sole family in the immediate area. Now that extended to the squints and the Brennans. He wasn't quite sure when that had happened. It just had. He'd told his son the truth…part of it. Brennan was in trouble, a bad man had taken her. He had to find her before she could get hurt. Parker had accepted that explanation and had been concerned for Brennan's well-being. He needed to call Parker and make sure he knew that Brennan would be just fine.

"Booth."

"Shhh," he tried to soothe as he let his thumb run over the top of her hand. He watched as she stirred and questioned mentally if she should be moving around so much, but he didn't know where it hurt the most for her. She'd been through so much, he just wanted her to be comfortable and in the least amount of pain possible.

"I want to go home," Brennan whispered.

Booth's eyes immediately scanned up to her eyes. Her lids were tightly sealed over her blue eyes. "Bones?" he whispered sitting up straight in his chair and giving her hand a light squeeze.

"You need sleep," she continued. "You should have gone home."

He waited, listening for any signs of pain in her voice. He couldn't help, but ask her. "Are you in pain?" he asked gently.

"It's not too bad."

"Your eyes are closed," Booth pointed out. He wanted to call a nurse or a doctor in, but he waited. He'd be thrown out if he called them now.

She allowed for her eyes to open slowly, letting her eyes adjust to the harsh light of the hospital room. "They're open now," Brennan whispered and turned her head, so that she could directly talk to Booth.

He frowned, "You're in pain… I should get the nurse in here…"

"No," she whispered and held onto his hand when he tried to pull it away.

"Bones—"

"It's not that bad, Booth," Brennan tried to convince him.

"You've been through a lot, I don't really think you can trust your body to tell you how much pain you're feeling," Booth tried to explain his reasoning. "I think that it won't hurt for you to have a little more pain medication."

"I'm tired of sleeping," she complained.

"Bones—"

"No, I don't want to sleep anymore."

"Bones, be reasonable."

"I remember…when I sleep," she whispered and closed her eyes. Tears feel from her lids and traveled down her cheeks.

His voice broke as he said her name, "Temperance…" All Booth could picture was Brennan in the chair bleeding and looking quite broken…lifeless…dead… "You're safe now."

She sniffled and thought about how stupid it was that she was getting so emotional. Booth's logic, she knew already. She was safe and he was standing guard. He wouldn't let anyone hurt her again. "When—when I was captured…I…"

"You don't have to say anything right now," Booth told her seeing how upset she was getting remembering everything. He hated seeing her in so much pain.

"When I would black out…you were who I'd dream of," she admitted opening her eyes again.

"What were we doing?" Booth asked curiously.

"At one point…I was remembering our Christmas in the Jeffersonian…" she admitted and wiped her tears away. "Mostly…us…in the diner. Drinking coffee…you eating pie."

"No Sweets?"

"No Sweets," she added with a tiny smile.

He leaned in and gently placed a kiss on her forehead. He still wanted to grab her and pull her to his chest, to wrap his arms around her, and to never let her go. Booth knew that he couldn't. She was far too injured for that. "You're safe now."

"What happened…to him?" she asked and watched Booth for his reaction. Could she tell if he was lying? Why would he lie? To protect her? She knew that Booth and her father were both there, there were different things that could have happened and she just wanted to know. "Did you—"

"He's in jail," Booth answered. "He's a lucky bastard…" he added a bit irritated. He and Max had had to really restrain from killing the man who had tortured Brennan for two days along with shooting Booth and Angela. "He's not going to hurt you… I promise."

"I believe you," Brennan whispered before reaching out and up Booth's arm. She wanted to hug him, but her limbs hurt. It was hard to move how she really wanted to.

He saw her winced and winced with her. "I'll call the nurse."

"How's Angela?" she asked noticing the gauze firmly tapped over one side of his temple.

"She has to wear a sling and her shoulder really hurts, but she's going to be okay. She got released before I did."

"You've been released?" she questioned eying the medical scrubs.

"Your dad helped me sign myself out," Booth informed her. He noticed the scrubs and figured that's what Brennan meant in her questioning. "I—I—I was covered in your blood… Cam got these for me… They didn't want me to come in here and upset you."

"It was a lot, wasn't it?"

He didn't like the tone in her voice, but nodded just the same. "But you're going to be okay… The doctors said you were lucky…the electricity could have killed you because it traveled through your heart."

"That hurt," she whispered. "I thought he was killing me…"

"That's never going to happen again."

"How did you find me?"

"The squints," Booth responded.

"But how?" she pushed. Her curiosity was getting the best of her. She wanted to know everything that she'd missed out on. She needed to know everything that she didn't. It made her feel better to be included in the events that she wasn't apart of.

"Zack."

"Zack?"

"I'll let the squints explain," Booth assured. "That is, as long as none of them have been arrested for helping to spring a mental patient."

"They took Zack from his rehabilitation hospital?"

"It's a mental hospital, Bones."

"Why would they do that?"

Booth just stared at her dumbfounded. "Are you serious? Did he drop you on your head when he had you?"

"What? Am I missing something?" she asked quickly going over things in her mind trying to figure out what was right in front of her that Booth obviously saw, but she did not.

"They all love you, Bones. We all do. We'd do anything to save you."

"Even if it meant going to jail?" Brennan questioned.

"I'd die for you."

………………………..

**Two Weeks Later…**

"Bones! You're going to want to see this!" Booth called. It was dark and a layer of fog had come and settled into the D.C. area. He'd finally given in and allowed Brennan out of the lab. She'd only been back at the Jeffersonian for a total of three days, and this was the first day that he'd allowed her to accompany him into the field. She'd said that he was babying her, but no one else really seemed to mind. She was still healing and he was still worried that she would push herself too much and too fast.

There'd been skeletal remains found in an alleyway near a dumpster. The smell wasn't from decomposition, but was rather masked by whatever was being dumped in the alleyway. She crouched down next to the remains where Booth had his flashlight shown on. She accessed if it appeared that the whole body was there and nodded to herself when she found it to be true and then looked up at Booth. "Female. Probably in her early twenties. Never given birth."

"Can you tell how she was killed?" Booth asked examining the skeletal remains from his own position.

With gloved hands, Brennan ran her hands over the body examining the bones silently. She stopped at the chest cavity, which was gone. The remains were solely skeletal. "There's a nick here," she said looking up at Booth, her blue gloved finger curled under a rib bone showing a contrast between the grayish rib and the blue glove. "She was probably stabbed. It most likely either punctured her heart or her lung."

"Body back to the Jeffersonian?" Booth questioned.

"As soon as we get the tissue markers, Angela can reconstruct the face, and put it through the missing persons database," Brennan said as she straightened herself up. "Hopefully we can get a name at least, so that we can notify her family."

"Sounds like a plan, but once the newbie squints have the skeleton loaded into the Jeffersonian-mobile, we're going to the diner," Booth told her.

"I'm not hungry," Brennan argued.

"You gotta eat, Bones."

"I'm not hungry."

"So, keep me company," Booth suggested.

"Fine," she told him, not especially excited about the idea of allowing the grad students to possibly look over the body before she was fully able to in the lab.

………………………

The diner was like a sanctuary for them. It was their place to go where they talked about whatever their hearts desired. Even subjects of interest that Booth seemed to be uncomfortable with, he talked about there. They sat at their booth, both with coffee and Booth with his pie…like always.

"You're being a bit too protective you know," Brennan spoke up after a few minutes of the two of them just sipping their coffees in silence.

Booth set his coffee cup down on the saucer and presented a bright smile. "I don't know what you're talking about." He picked up his fork and started to sever off a piece of his pie.

"Booth, I'm fine," Brennan told him.

"I don't want to discuss this," Booth told her, trying to keep his happy mood.

"I'm healing."

Booth dropped his fork with the pie piece on it. It clattered on his plate and he sighed. "I know," Booth told her. "That's what worries me. I don't want you hurting yourself when you're not even healed up yet."

Brennan put on a smile for him and reached across the table to take his hand in hers. "The doctor said that it was_ fine_ for me to go back to work. Even the field work. And I promised not to carry my gun. You're with me all the time and if you're not…Cam, Hodgins, and Angela are all around. I'm safe, Booth. You've kept me safe."

He squeezed her hand a bit and stared down at it. "There was a time I thought that you weren't going to make it," he whispered. It was the thing that was haunting him. His dreams were filled with that exact nightmare.

"I'm here," she whispered and reached out and placed her hand tenderly on his cheek. "You've kept me safe…"

"I might not always be able to."

"I believe in you, Booth," Brennan spoke truthfully with her heart as tears flooded her eyes. She hated to see him in so much pain. He'd been worrying far too much. After a moment, his chocolate eyes lifted and their eyes locked for a long moment. It was filled with silence, but much understanding as well. Her hand dropped from his face and she picked up her coffee cup again and sipped it slowly before speaking up again. "Don't you have Parker this weekend?"

"Yeah," Booth responded as a smile broke out onto his face. "I think we're going to the zoo. You should come. Parker would love that. _I'd _love that."

"Maybe I will."

"You should."

………………………

The End.


End file.
